.1 




Gass jSX ^ 76 k 
Book . 



1 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS : 



THEIR ORIGIN, 
PROGRESS, DOCTRINES, AND DESIGNS. 



BY 

Gr. B. ^NICOLINI, 

OF KOME, 

AUTHOR OF **THE HISTORY OF THE PONTIFICATE OF PIUS IX.," 
"THE LIFE OF FATHER GAVAZZI," ETC. 



LONDON : 

HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 

1854. 




PRINTED BY HARRISON AND SONS : 
LONDON GAZETTE OEITCE. ST. MAETirf',3 LANK. 



LC Con 



tro l Number 




028763 



PREFACE. 



I trust that in the following pages I have suc- 
ceeded in the task I proposed to myself, of con- 
veying to my readers a just and correct idea of 
the character and aims of the brotherhood of 
Loyola. At least I have spared no pains to 
accomplish this end. I honestly believe that 
the book was wanted ; for liberal institutions 
and civil and religious freedom have no greater 
enemies than that cunning fraternity ; while it is 
equally true, that although the J esuits are dreaded 
and detested on all sides as the worst species of 
knaves, there are few who are thoroughly ac- 
quainted with their eventful history, and with all 
those arts by which the fathers have earned for 
themselves a disgraceful celebrity, The fault 
does not altogether lie with the public; for, 
strange to say, there is no serious and complete 
history of this wonderful Society. I have done 
my best to supply the deficiency ; and I indulge 



iy 



PKEFACE. 



the hope that, if the book is fortunate enough 
to challenge public attention, it may be produc- 
tive of some good. In no other epoch of history, 
certainly, have the Jesuits been more dangerous 
and threatening for England than in the pre- 
sent. I am no alarmist. I refuse to believe that 
England will relapse under the Papal yoke, and 
return to the darkness and ignorance of the 
middle ages, because some score of citizens pass 
over to the Romish communion ; but at the 
same time I do believe that many bold and less 
reflective persons make too light of the matter, 
and are wrong in refusing to countenance vigor- 
ous measures, not for religious persecution, but 
to check the insolence and countermine the plots 
of these audacious monks. It is true that there 
exists a great difficulty in deciding what mea- 
sures are to be adopted for accomplishing this 
end. It is repugnant, doubtless, to a liberal 
and generous mind, and it is unworthy of a 
free and great nation, to persecute any sect, 
and to make different castes in the same body 
of citizens. But, it may fairly be asked, are 
monks, and especially Jesuits, really English 
citizens, in the strictest sense of the word? Do 
they recognise Queen Yictoria as their legitimate 
sovereign ? Are they prepared to yield a loyal 
obedience to the laws of the land? To all 



PREFACE. 



V 



these questions I answer, 'No ! Even when 
born in England, they do not consider them- 
selves Englishmen. They claim the privileges 
which the name confers, but will not accept the 
obligations it imposes. Their country is Eome ; 
their sovereign the Pope ; their laws the com- 
mands of their General. England they consider 
an accursed land ; Englishmen heretics, whom 
they are under an obligation to combat. The 
perusal of this work will, I imagine, prove 
beyond the possibility of contradiction that, 
from their origin, the Jesuits have constantly 
and energetically laboured towards this object. 
I cannot too much impress upon the minds of 
my readers that the Jesuits, by their very call- 
ing, by the very essence of their institution, are 
bound to seek, by every means, right or wrong, 
the destruction of Protestantism. This is the 
condition of their existence, the duty they must 
fulfil, or cease to be Jesuits. Accordingly, we 
find them in this evil dilemma. Either the 
Jesuits fulfil the duties of their calling, or not. 
In the first instance, they must be considered 
as the bitterest enemies of the Protestant faith ; 
in the second, as bad and unworthy priests ; and 
in both cases, therefore, to be equally regarded 
with aversion and distrust. 

Can no measure, then, be taken against these 



Tl 



PREFACE. 



aliens, who reside in England purposely to 
trouble her peace ? Cannot a nation do something 
to protect itself, without incurring the reproach 
of being intolerant ? What ! When some English 
writers and newspapers insist that measures 
should be taken against certain other foreigners, 
who trouble not the peace of Great Britain, 
though they may disturb the imperial dreams 
of a neighbouring tyrant ; and when the local 
authorities in Jersey have, to a certain extent, re- 
sorted to such measures, shall England be denied 
the right to take steps against the enemies of 
her faith, her glory, and her prosperity ? The 
important point of the question which I submit 
to the consideration of those who, indifferent in 
matters of religion, care very little whether 
Jesuits convert a half of the nation to Roman- 
ism, is this : In England, the religious question 
involves also the question of national peace, great- 
ness, and prosperity. If one-half of England 
w^ere Papists, Queen Victoria, in given circum- 
stances, could not depend upon the allegiance 
of her subjects, nor the Parliament on the exe- 
cution of the laws. It may be that the priests (to 
be liberal in my hypothesis) will teach the igno- 
rant and bigoted Popish population to respect 
and obey the Queen — but most assuredly they 
will also command them, and, moreover, under 



PREFACE. Yii 

penalty of eternal damnation, to obey, in pre- 
ference, the orders of the Pope, if they are in 
contradiction to those of the Sovereign. Their 
cry will be : — the Pope before the Queen ; the 
canon laws before the civil code ! JSTow, I ask, 
if the Pope were sure of being obeyed by half 
the English population, would England long 
enjoy her liberties, would she prosper in her 
enterprises, and continue to be, without contra- 
diction, the first and most powerful nation of 
Europe ? Can it be imagined that that admir- 
able combination of rights and duties embodied 
in the constitution, that respect of the Sovereign 
for the rights of the citizens, and that unaffected 
love of the people for the Sovereign, which form 
the real strength and power of Britain, could 
long be preserved ? I need not insist further on 
this point. I believe, however, I have said enough 
to shew that, whether any other measures can 
be taken against this insidious Order or not, 
the clause in the Emancipation Act concerning 
the religious communities should be rigorously 
executed. 

I am sensible that the above remarks would 
perhaps have been more appropriate to the 
Conclusion of the work ; but, as they have not 
a general character, but are considerations more 
particularly submitted to an English public, I 



Till 



PREFACE. 



haTe thought it better to consign them to the 
Preface, which may be modified, according to 
place and circumstances, without altering the 
general features of the work to which it belongs. 

In the compilation of this work, I haTe studi- 
ously kept my promise not to adTance a single 
fact for which I could not produce unquestion- 
able authority ; and 5 while I expect that my de- 
ductions will be impugned, I can safely defy any 
one to contradict the facts upon which they are 
based. When I haTe quoted original authors, on 
the authority of others, I haTe neTer done so with- 
out ascertaining, by my own inspection, or by that 
of friends — when the works were not to be had 
here — that the quotations were correct. I haTe 
entered somewhat minutely into details in the 
first part of the History, partly, perhaps, a little 
influenced by the interminable prolixity of the 
Jesuit authors I consulted, and partly because 
I deemed it necessary, in order that my readers 
might form a correct idea of the mechanism, 
the principles, and the proceedings of the So- 
ciety. Once persuaded that the reader was 
acquainted with the acts and ways of the 
fraternity, I haTe abandoned detail, and giTen 
such broad features of the principal eTents as 
might afford instructiTe lessons. I haTe endea- 
Toured to reject from the narratiTe all that is 



PREFACE. 



IX 



extraneous to the subject. I have overlooked 
embellishments. I do not claim the merit of 
being an elegant or eloquent writer, still less in 
a language which is not my own, and in which 
I was often at a loss to express my ideas. But 
I must confess that I have some hope that in 
the eyes of an indulgent reader the consequences 
I have deduced from the facts will be found to 
be logical, the language intelligible, and the 
work not altogether wanting in order. 

In the course of the publication, I have 
received many letters — some friendly, others 
insulting ; but, as they were all anonymous, I 
could answer neither. In any case, I should 
only have answered my friends, and thanked 
them for their advice ; while, in regard to the 
second class of my correspondents, even although 
the " modest authors " had not deemed it 
prudent "to conceal their names," I should 
assuredly not have condescended to furnish a 
reply, contenting myself with the simple reflec- 
tion that it is naturally unpalatable to the 
culprit to have his crimes dragged into the 
light of day. 

I cannot conclude this Preface without ex- 
pressing my warmest gratitude to the libra- 
rians of the different public establishments in 
Edinburgh, and especially to the librarian of 



X 



PREFACE. 



the Advocates' Library, and his assistants, for 
the liberal manner in which they have put at 
my disposal the books contained in their collec- 
tions. 

Finally, as I am sensible (from a conviction 
of my own insufficiency) that the work cannot 
be productive to me of either renown or con- 
sideration, my chief hope is, that it may prove 
useful and beneficial to some portion at least of 
the English community, otherwise I should 
indeed have cause immensely to regret my pains 
and my labour. 

Edinburgh, December 4, 1852. 



CONTENTS. 



Preface, •••••••• 

INTRODUCTION. 

The Author dissuaded from writing the History of the Jesuits- 
Reasons for undertaking the Work — Difficulty of well delineating 
the Character of a Jesuit — The Author pledges himself to be Im- 
partial, . 



CHAPTER I. 
1500-40. 

ORIGIN OP THE ORDER. 

State of Europe in the Sixteenth Century — Italy the Centre of 
Civilisation — Alexander VI. — Julius II. — Leo X. — His Indiffer- 
ence in matters of Religion — Obliged by the Court to Excommuni- 
cate Luther — Reformation in Germany, England, and Switzerland 
— Ignatius of Loyola — His Birth and Education — Wounded at 
Pampeluna — He decides upon becoming a Saint — The Spiritual 
Exercises — Origin of the Book — Cretineau — J oly — Analysis of the 
Spiritual Exercises by Cardinal Wiseman — Some Quotations from 
it — Pilgrimage of Loyola to Palestine— -His Return — His Attempts 
at Proselytism in Barcelona — In Alcada — In Paris — The First 
Ten Companions of Loyola — They take the Vow of Obedience at 
Montmartre in 1534 — They depart for Italy — Projected Missions 
in the Holy Land — Pierre Carraffa, afterwards Paul IV. — Loyola 
and his Companions in Rome — They conquer all Opposition, and 
the intended Society is approved of by a Bull of Paul III., 1540, 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER II. 

1540-52. 

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 

State of the Roman Church at the Epoch of the Establishment of 
the Society — Adrian YI.'s extraordinary Avowal — Loyola's remark- 
able Cleverness in framing the Constitutions— Analysis of this 
Work — Passive Obedience — Poverty — Instruction given gratis, and 
why— Ways by which the Jesuits get at Wealth, . . 30 



CHAPTER III. 

1540- 53. 

HIERARCHY. 

The Members of this Society are divided into Four Classes — Grioberti 
and Pellico upon a Fifth Secret Class — The Novices — Their Trials — 
Their Yows — Scholars — Qualities they must possess — Coadjutors 
Temporal and Spiritual — Their several Duties — Their Yows — Pro- 
fessed Members — The First Class in the Society — They take a 
Fourth Yow of implicit Obedience to the Holy See — Ceremony in 
taking the Yows — They as well as the Coadjutors are bound to live 
by Alms — The Gfeneral of the Order — How Elected— His Attribu- 
tions — His Powers — The Provincial and other inferior Officials of 
the Order — Their Attributions, . . . • 45 

CHAPTER IY. 

1541- 48. 

PROGRESS OF THE ORDER, AND ITS FIRST GENERAL. 

Ignatius elected General, at first refuses the office — Afterwards 
accepts of it — His Zeal and Activity in promoting the Interests of 
the Order — Charitable Institutions in Rome — He co-operates in 
re-establishing the Inquisition — The Albigenses — Rules of the Tri- 
bunal — Terror which it spread through Italy — The Jesuits in 
Missions in various parts of Europe — The first Jesuits in Great 
Britain— Instructions given them by Loyola— Their Proceedings, 57 

CHAPTER Y. 
1547-1631. 

THE FEMALE JESUITS. 

Their origin — Donna Isabella — Rosello — Trouble which they gave 
to Ignatius — He refuses to take charge of them — Attempts of some 
Women to establish the Order of Female Jesuits — They are Sup- 
pressed in 1631— They Revive as the Sisters of the Holy Heart, 71 



CONTENTS. 



Xlll 



CHAPTER VI. 

1543-56. 

THE FIRST OPPOSITION TO THE ORDER, AND DEATH OF LOYOLA. 

Charles V. — His Interim — He banishes Bobadilla, who opposes it-— 
Cano> a Dominican Friar— ^His Opposition to the^ J esuits— He is 
made Bishop of the Canaries — He renounces his Bishopric to 
return to Europe — His Prediction concerning the Society — The 
Archbishop of Toledo lays an Interdict on the College of the J esuits 
—Disturbance in Saragossa to prevent the Jesuits from opening 
their Chapel — The Jesuits in Portugal — Their Idleness and 
Debauchery — Recall of the Provincial Rodriguez — New Superiors 
— Stratagem to reduce the Members to their Duty — The Jesuits in 
France — Du Prat, Bishop of Clermont, their Protector — Henry II., 
at the recommendation of Cardinal Gruise, wants to Establish the 
Jesuits in France — The Parliament refuses to Register the Ordi- 
nances—Their Establishment opposed by the Sorbonne — Also by 
De Bellay, Archbishop of Paris — Reasons adduced by them for 
their Opposition-— The Jesuits obliged to leave Paris — Accused at 
Rome of Heresy — Remarkable unanimity of the different Nations 
in opposing the Establishment of the Order — The Jesuits conquer 
all Opposition — The Order Established in direct Opposition to the 
Reformed Religion — Character of Loyola — His Correspondence with 
the different Sovereigns — His Illness and Death, 1556 — Partiality 
of Macaulay, Taylor, Stephen, and others, for Loyola and the 
J esuits — Reason of this Partiality,, • 75 



CHAPTER VII. 
1541-1774. 

MISSIONS. 

Jesuit Authors who write about them — Mission of East India — 
Francis Xavier — Zeal and Devotedness of the First Missionaries 
—Sketch of the Life and Character of Xavier — He Arrives at 
Groa — Moral State of the Town — Efforts of Xavier to Reform it — 
He Succeeds but Partially — Xavier on the Coast of Malabar — 
His Conduct there — He goes to Malacca — To Japan — His inten- 
ded Mission to China — Opposition of Don Alvarez, Captain 
General of Malacca — Xavier lands at Sancian — His Illness and 
Death, 1552 — Appreciation of Xavier's Merits — Prevarication of 
the Missionaries after Xavier's Death — Father Nobili introduces 
Idolatry into the Christian form of Worship — He gives himself out 
as a Brahmin — The Jesuits maintain the Distinction of Castes 
among the Converts— Their way of making Christians — They 
greatly exaggerate the number of Converts — Scandalous Idolatry 
— The Court of Rome condemns it — Cardinal de Tournon, Pope's 
Legate in India — He solemnly condemns the Malabar Rites — 
Incredible Impudence and Audacity of the Jesuits, to elude the 
Ordinance of the Legate — The Pope and the Inquisition confirm the 



CONTENTS, 



Decree of De Tournon— He proceeds to China— His Conduct there 
— He is Expelled from Pekin— His Imprisonment— Cruel Treat- 
ment to which he is subjected — His Death, 1710— The Jesuits 
the Authors of his Misfortunes — The Pope's Eulogium on De 
Tournon — Repeated Decrees of the Holy See against the Jesuits 
— Decline of their Influence in India — Principal Feature of 
Missions— Why the Pope Condemned the Malabar Rites — Popish 
Idolatry— Procession of Good-Friday • , . . 96 



CHAPTER VIII. 
1556-1581. 

THE GENERALS OF THE ORDER. 

Lainez is chosen Vicar- General — Difficulties of holding a General 
Congregation — Paul IV. — His Hatred against the Spaniards — 
Revolt of Bobadilla — How subdued — War between Paul IV. and 
Philip II. — The Duke of Alva in Rome — General Congregation — 
Interference of the Pope — Lainez chosen General — The Pope orders 
that the General should only stay in Office for Three Years — Death 
of Paul IV.— Election of Pius IV.— The Nephew of the late Pope 
Executed— The Jesuits suspected of having Participated in that Act 
of Revenge — The Jesuits accused of various Misdemeanours — 
Lainez in France at the Congress of Poissy — He goes to Trent — 
The Council of Trent — Its Opening and Close — Its Results — Influ- 
ence of the Jesuits — Lainez returns to Rome — He Dies, 1565 — His 
Character — Borgia, ex-Duke of Candia, elected Third General — 
His History — Pius V. Cruel and Sanguinary — He subjects the 
Jesuits to Monastic Duties — Borgia in Spain and France — Battle 
of Lepanto, 1571 — Defeat of the Turks — Eve of St Bartholomew 
■ — Death of Borgia, 1572 — Mercurianus Fourth General — The 
Jesuits Inherit the Wealth of the Bishop of Clermont, • 133 



CHAPTER IX. 
1560-1600. 

PROCEEDINGS OF THE JESUITS IN THE DIFFERENT COUNTRIES OF EUROPE. 

Jesuits in England under Elizabeth — William Allen establishes 
Colleges at Douay and in Rome for Englishmen — The Jesuits 
direct them — Bull of Pius V. Excommunicating Elizabeth — 
Character given of her by the Jesuits — Campion and Parson at 
the Head of a Jesuit Mission in England — Their Biography — 
They arrive in England — Encourage the Roman Catholics to 
Disobey the Queen — Proclamation against the Jesuits — Their 
Answer to it — Enmity of Gregory XIII. to England — His Cha- 
racter — He Encourages all the Insurrections against the Queen — 
Parson and Campion eagerly sought by the Government — Elude 
the Search — Capture of Campion — Divers Opinions concerning his 



CONTENTS. XV 



Trial — Execution of three Jesuits, Campion, Sherwin, and 
Briant— Parry's Project for Assassinating the Queen— Encour- 
aged by the Jesuits and the Pope's Nuncio, Ragazzoni— The 
Jesuits attempt to justify Parry— Absurdity of their Vindication 
— Severe Laws against the Jesuits — The most of them ieave 
England— Hume on Babington's Conspiracy — The Jesuits along 
with the Great Armada— The Jesuits actually Troubling the Peace 
of England— Duplicity of their Conduct— A J esuit, pretending to 
be an ardent Republican in Rome in the last Revolution — Is 
thrown into the Tiber, . . . . 151 

Conduct of the Jesuits in Portugal— They prevent Don Sebastian 
from Marrying — Pasquier accuses them of having aspired to be- 
come Kings of Portugal — The Accusation repeated throughout all 
Europe — They suggest to Don Sebastian the Expedition to^Morocco 
— Death of the King — The Jesuits place the Crown on the Head 
of Philip II. of Spain, . . . . . 171 

The Jesuits at last admitted into France — Under what Restrictions — 
Principal Doctrines of the Gallican Church — The League — Henry 
III. of France — His Indolence — His Tolerance — Ambition of the 
Duke of Gfuise — He is declared Chief of the League — Makes a 
Treaty with the King of Spain — Day of the Barricades — The King 
causes Guise to be Murdered — The Jesuits Preach against the King 
—Clement, a Dominican Friar, stabs him, 1589 — The Council of 
Seize order the Preachers to praise Clement's Deed — Henry of 
Bourbon, King of Navarre, assumes the Title of King of France — 
Opposed by Cardinal de Bourbon — Civil War — Henry IV. abjures 
Calvinism — Siege of Paris — Conduct of the Jesuits — Henry Ac- 
knowledged as King — Part taken by the J esuits in the League — 
Barriere attempts to Assassinate the King — The Jesuits are his 
Accomplices — John Chastel — Stabs the King — Instigated by the 
Jesuits — The Jesuits expelled from France — Execution of Chastel, 
and of the Jesuit Guinard — The House of Chastel is pnlled down 
— A Pyramid erected to perpetuate the Memory of his Crime — 
Inscription on the Pyramid concerning the part the Jesuits had in 
it — Horrible Doctrines of the Jesuits — Reflections upon them, 175 

Immense Influence exercised by the Jesuits in Germany — What 
Requisites they had for success — Their Schools and Colleges — Their 
Method of giving Instruction — Even Protestants send their Chil- 
dren to their Schools — The Sovereigns of Germany support the 
J esuits — Albert V. of Bavaria obliges his Subjects to subscribe the 
Professio Fidei — Rodolph II. Emperor of Germany — Is directed 
by Father Maggio — Persecutes the Protestants, and re-establishes 
the Roman Catholic Worship, .... 194 

The Jesuits in Poland — Sigismond the King of tbe Jesuits — The 
J esuits' Paramount Influence employed in re-establishing Popery, 202 

Attempt of the Jesuits to convert to Romanism John III. of Swe- 
den — The J esuit Possevin in Stockholm in Disguise — John pro- 
mises to become a Roman Catholic — Haughty Conduct of Gregory 
XIII. — John remains a Protestant, and expels the Jesuits — 
Sigismond succeeds John — War between Sweden and Poland — 
The Jesuits are the Authors of it, .... 203 

The Jesuits in Switzerland and Piedmont — Canisius founds the 
College of Friburg — The Waldenses — Their Simplicity and Inno- 
cence — Persecution and Cruelties exercised against them by Pos- 
sevin — He hunts them as Wild Beasts — Pretends that many ab- 



XVI CONTENTS. 

» PAGE 
jure Protestantism — Reflexions on the Influence and Conduct 
of the Jesuits throughout Europe, . . . . 205 



CHAPTER X. 
1581-1608. 

COMMOTION AMONG THE JESUITS. 

Acquaviva chosen General— His Character— The Spanish Jesuits 
refuse to obey him— Philip II. takes part with them— Sixtus V. 
supports Acquaviva Prudence of the latter — His Letter — Ratio 
Studiorum — Admirable Plan of Education — Influence which it 
gave them — Origin of the Congregations, 1569 — Its rapid Increase 
— Directed by the Jesuits — Who derive immense Power from it — ■ 
Its various Denominations — Internal Life of the Jesuit Colleges — 
Their Studies — The Instruction more Specious than Solid — Dis- 
tinctive Character of J esuit Writers — They are Affected — Excep- 
tions — Bartolis Segneri — Bourdaloue — Great Change in the Policy 
of the Society — They become Attached to the French Interest — 
Henry IY. re-establishes them in France, 1603 — Reasons which 
he adduces to his Minister Sully— He writes to the General Con- 
gregation in favour of Acquaviva — Affair of Venice — The Jesuits 
leave the Territory of the Republic — Henry IY. sues for their 
Return — Spain opposes it — The Jesuits not allowed to re-enter 
Yenice till 1657 — Acquaviva's Success in mastering the revolted 
Province of Spain — Proves ultimately the Ruin of the Order, . 209 



CHAPTER XI. 
1600-1700. 

DOCTKINES AND MORAL CODE OE THE JESUITS. 

Acquaviva's opinion of St Thomas's Theology — Molina's Doctrine on 
Free-will — The Dominicans oppose Molinism — The two parties 
hold thirty-seven Disputations in prepuce of the Pope— Clement 
VIII. adverse to the Doctrine of the Jesuits — Why he did not 
condemn it — He imposes silence on the two parties— Origin of 
J ansenism — Jansenius — Du Verger de Hauranne, Abbot of St Cryan 
— Jansenius composes the "Augustinus" and dies — St Cyran 
Chief of the School — The Nuns of Port-Royal and the D'Arnauld 
family — St Cyran Prisoner at Vincennes — The Jesuits embody the 
essential Doctrines of the Augustinus in five Propositions, and 
oblige the Pope to condemn them — The Jansenists deny that 
such Propositions are contained in the Book — Alexander VII. 
declares by^ a Bull that they are contained in it — The Pope's In- 
fallibility in Matters of Fact — Why the Jansenists took such 
pains to persuade people that they were good Roman Catholics — 
How the Jesuits had become such a powerful Brotherhood — They 
are no more needed as Theologians — Many Kings and Nobles have 
each his own Confessor — Contrivances of the Jesuits to be 
chosen to this Office — Their very accommodating Doctrines — 
Escobar and his Moral Doctrines of the Jesuits on Sin — Invin- 



CONTENTS. 



xvii 



cible Ignorance — Pascal the Provincial — Probable Opinion — Men- 
tal Reservation — Impiety— Easy way to go to Paradise — The 
Book of Father Barry— Extracts from it— The Month of Mary 
— Ridiculous Ceremonies in honour of the Virgin during the 
Month of May— Secreta Monitor— Row originated— Why we believe 
them to be Apocryphal, • . • 230 



CHAPTER XII. 
1608-1700. 

OVERGROWING INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIETY. 

New Phase of the History of the Order — The Jesuits contend for 
Supremacy wherever they are established — Their Influence in 
various Courts — They become Confessors of the Kings of France 
— Assassination of Henry IV. — The Jesuits accused by the Par- 
liament of being the Accomplices of Ravaillac — Apologetic Letters 
of Father Cotton, the late King's Confessor — The Anti-Cotton, a 
Pamphlet against the Jesuits — Cotton, Confessor of Louis XIII. 
— Death of Acquaviva, 1615 — His Acts — With him ends the 
'prestige exercised by the Grenerals — Election of Vitelleschi— His 
Character — Canonisation of Loyola and Xavier — Rules to be ob- 
served in making Saints — Quantity of Saints found in the Ceme- 
try of St Lorenzo fuor delle mura — They are at last discovered to 
have been dug up from a Pagan Burial-place — Feasts on the Ca- 
nonisation of Loyola and Xavier — Impious Panegyrics in their 
Honour — Solemnisation qf the Secular Year of the Establishment 
of the Society — Imago PrimiSceculi — Some Extracts from it — How 
Cretineau excuses the Extravagancies of the Imago — The Book 
expresses the real Feelings of the Jesuits — The greatest Houses 
have one of their Members a Jesuit — The Jesuits under Richelieu — 
Under Mazzarini — Louis XIV. assumes the Government — Begin- 
ning of the extraordinary Influence of the Order — Louis XIV. and 
Philip II. both bigoted Papists — Both wage War against the Pope 
— Servility of the Jesuits towards Louis XIV. — They are allowed to 
persecute the Protestants — De la Marca's Formula to be sub- 
scribed by the Jansenists — They refuse to do so — Persecution 
raised against them — Edict of Nantes — Father Lachaise — His 
Character — He becomes the King's Confessor — His Ascendancy 
over the King — Revocation of the Edict of Nantes — Massacre of 
the Huguenots — Their Bodies exhumed from the Tombs — Num 
berless Families obliged to leave France — Lachaise becomes an 
important Personage — His Residence — He disposes of Lettres de 
Cachet — What these were — He unites in Secret Marriage the 
King and Madame de Maintenon. The Right of disposing of all 
the Livings and Bishoprics attached to the Oflice of the King's 
Confessor — Immense Power which it confers upon the Order — 
Letellier succeeds Lachaise as King's Confessor — His Character 
— His Persecuting Spirit — By his orders, Port-Royal Destroyed 
from the Foundation, the Tombs Violated, and the Bodies of the 
Deceased given to be Devoured by the Dogs, . . . 253 

The Jesuits in Spain — Their Influence under Philip III. and IV. — 



XV111 



CONTENTS. 



Olivarez leaves them little share of Authority — They resolved to 
be Revenged — Their Conspiracy in Portugal— Father Corea and 
the Duke of Braganza— Cretineau confesses the part they took in 
the Revolution — The House of Braganza ascend the Throne of 
Portugal — Paramount Influence of the Jesuits — Lisbon the Centre 
of their Commerce — Decrees of the General Congregations forbid- 
ding the Jesuits to mix in Political or Commercial Matters — 
Whether observed or not — Why enacted, . . . 274 

The J esuits in Germany — They are the most able Auxiliaries of 
Ferdinand in destroying the Protestants — Tilly, Walenstein, and 
Piccolomini, their Pupils — Conduct of the Jesuits in the Thirty 
Years' War — Advantages which they derived from it, . 278 

Influence of the J esuits in Poland — They used it against the Protes- 
tants — Letter of the University of Cracow to that of Louvain on the 
Jesuit Cruelties — Cassimir, King of Poland, formerly a Jesuit — He 
is on the point of losing his Kingdom — Commits it to the care of 
the Virgin Mary, ...... 280 

The Jesuits and Christina of Sweden — Father Macedo Converts her 
to Romanism — She Abdicates the Crown and goes to Rome, 282 

The Jesuits in England under James I. — Gunpowder Plot — What 
part the J esuits had in it — Difficulty of arriving at the Truth — 
The Jesuits from first to last the Contrivers of all the Plots 
against Elizabeth and James — Parson disposes of the Crown of 
England — He obtains from the Pope a Bull which forbids the 
Roman Catholics to take the Oath of Allegiance — Percy reveals 
to Father Gerald the Gunpowder Plot — Garnet pretends not to 
have known the Conspiracy but under the Seal of Confession — 
This Plea cannot exculpate the J esuits from being Accomplices in 
the Plot — Reasons why — Imprisonment of Garnet — The Govern- 
ment violates all the Laws of Justice and Humanity — Punishment 
of Garnet — Moral Torture he is made to endure on the Scaffold — 
Execution of Father Oldcorne — The Jesuits are not discouraged 
from Plotting — Struggle of Charles I. with his Parliament — The 
Jesuits accused of fighting in both Camps — Absurdity of the Re- 
cital of Jurieu to prove the Accusation — The Author's opinion upon 
the Fact — The Jesuits' Discouragement under Cromwell — They 
re-appear under Charles II. — Cretineau on a Treaty to Re-establish 
the Roman Religion — Popish Plot — Oates and Bedloe— Their in- 
famous Character —Their absurd Inventions — Credit they obtain 
— Persecution of Papists — Father Ireland executed — Reign of 
James II. — Influence of the Jesuits — Father Peter, Member of 
the Privy Council — Revolution of 1688, • • . 283 



CHAPTER XIII. 
1600-1753. 

AMERICAN MISSIONS. 

Our Opinion of the Missions — Praises awarded to the Fathers — 
Difference between the Indian and American Missions — State 



CONTENTS. 



of the two Countries — Cruelties exercised by the Spaniards 
against the Indians— Humane and Christian-like Conduct of the 
Jesuits— They Differ from other Monks— The Indians receive the 
Jesuits as their Protectors — Wandering of the Jesuits in making 
Proselytes — Acquaviva Traces to them a Plan of Proceeding — 
They Establish themselves in Paraguay— The Reductions — 
Conduct of the Jesuits — The Indians Idolise them — Form 
of Government of Reductions — Communism — Mode of Life in the 
Reductions — The Indians forbidden to leave the Reductions, 
and Strangers to enter them — The Indians drilled to Arms — 
The Jesuits accompany and direct them in their Expedi- 
tions — Criticism of the Jesuits' System in the Reductions- 
Opinion of Quinet — Our Opinion differs from that of this cele- 
brated Professor — Well-founded Reproaches addressed to the 
Jesuits on account of the Superstitious Practices Introduced by 
them into Religion — They are reproved even by Roman Catholics 
— Palafox, Bishop of Angelopolis — He attempts to exercise 
his Authority over the Fathers — Privileges of the Jesuits — Letter 
of Palafox to the Pope, asking for a Reform of the Society — 
Persecution raised against him by the J esuits continued after his 
Death — They Oppose his Canonisation — What are the Causes of 
Discord between the Jesuits and the other Orders — Opinion of 
Gioberti — The Jesuits want to Domineer over Bishops and 
Legates —Their Conduct towards them — Divers Bulls of different 
Popes on the Disobedience and Revolt of the Order against the 
Holy See, 295 



CHAPTER XIV 
1617-1700. 

INTERNAL CAUSES OF DECLINE. 

A Spirit of Independence pervades the Order — The Aristocratic Class 
of the Professed refuse Obedience to the Generals — Incapacity of 
the latter — Under Yitelleschi, the Spirit of the Constitution is 
quite Changed — Letters of Vitelleschi and Caraffa to deprecate 
the Ruin of the Order — Piccolomini and Gottifredi, Generals — ■ 
Nickel, the elected General, attempts a Reform — General Congre- 
gation depriving him of all Authority — Oliva Vicar-General — He 
becomes General after the Death of Nickel — His Character — His 
Epicurean Habits — Relaxation of Discipline — Political Influence 
which the Society acquired at such an Epoch — Its Causes — The 
Jesuits, blinded by Prosperity, become less Cautious — Noyelle, 
Gonzales, and Tambourini, Generals — The Company follow a 
Road which leads to Ruin — They excite the Jealousy of all the 
other Monastic Orders — They sell a Passport against the Evil 
Spirit — Mastrilli sends a Message every day by an Angel to 
Xavier, and receives Answers, . .315 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XV. 
1700-1772. 

DOWNFALL OP THE JESUITS. 

Gradual March of the Order— It attains the Height of its Power- 
Causes of Decay— The Instruction no more Gratuitous— The Prin- 
ces of Germany limit their Unrestricted Authority — Rome begins 
to frown upon them— Benedict XIY.'s injurious Description of 
them — Hatred which they incur in France — Its Causes — After 
the Death of Louis XIV., they are attacked from every Quarter 
— The J esuits have Identified themselves with all the Absurd and 
Idolatrous Practices of the Roman Church — They are attacked 
by the Encyclopaedists — Offer no Efficient Resistance — Philip of 
Orleans, Regent of France — He refuses to protect them — They 
attempt in vain to regain their Influence under Louis XV. — 
The Ministers of various Sovereigns of Europe undertake Reform 
— Choiseul — Tanucci — Squillace — Carvalho — The Fall of the Jes- 
uits ought not to be attributed to Private Causes — Epitome of 
the History of the Jesuits in Portugal — Carvalho, Marquis of 
Pombal — His Character — His Hatred of the Jesuits and the 
Aristocracy — Portugal and Spain exchange their Possessions in 
America — The Indians of the Reduction refuse to Obey — They 
take up Arms — Are Defeated — The Jesuits Accused by Pombal of 
having Excited the Revolt — Denial of the Fathers — Earthquake of 
Lisbon — Intrepid and Heroic Conduct of Pombal — He becomes 
All-powerful — He Removes from the Court the tbree Jesuit Con- 
fessors — Manifesto against them — Benedict XIV. subjects them 
to a Visitation — Commerce of the Company in Europe — In 
both Indies — The Visitor, Cardinal Saldanha, Censures the 
Commercial Pursuits of the Order — Death of Benedict XIV. 
— Clement XIII. — His Character — His Partiality for the Fathers 
— Cardinal Torrigiani, the Pope's first Minister, is bribed by the 
Jesuits — Joseph I, of Portugal — Attempt to Assassinate, while 
returning from his Nocturnal Visit to a Lady — Measures taken 
by Pombal — The Duke d'Averio, the Marquis of Tavora's Family, 
and some of their Relations, are thrown into Prison — They are 
accused of being Accomplices in the Attempt — Illegal and Inquisi- 
torial Proceedings — The Prisoners are Condemned and Executed — 
Horrible Mode of Execution — It tarnishes Pombal's Fame — The 
Jesuits are Imprisoned as Accomplices — New Manifesto of Pombal 
against them — Decree Expelling all the Jesuits from the Portu- 
guese Dominions, 1559 — France strikes the second Blow against 
the Order— Affair of La Valette— The Order is held by the Tri- 
bunals as answerable for all his Debts — Unaccountable Blindness 
of the Jesuits, in appealing to the Parliament against this decision 
— Cardinal de Luynes and the Assembly of Bishops — They declare 
the Obedience due by the Jesuits to their General to be Incom- 
patible with the Duties of a Subject — Louis XV. — His Character 
— Pressed by Choiseul and Madame de Pompadour, demands a 
Reform of the Order — Character of Choiseul— There was no Agree- 
ment between him, the Philosophers, and Pombal, to Destroy the 
Jesuits — Answer of Ricci, the General, to the Demand for Reform 
—The Parliament Abolish the Society, 1762— Its Members Ex- 
pelled from France, 1764, 326 



CONTENTS. 



xxi 



The Jesuits meet with a Greater Calamity in Spain— Charles III., 
his Character— Uncertainty as to the Motives which induced him 
to abolish the Order — Emeute des Chapeaux—Uojal Proclamation 
Abolishing the Order of the Jesuits, 1767— Motives adduced by 
Charles for this Measure — Motives ascribed to him by the Jesuits 
and Ranke— Our own Conjectures on this matter— The way in 
which the Decree was executed— Clement XIII.'s Useless Pro- 
tection of the Jesuits— His Praises of the Order— Rieci's Desperate 
Efforts to Save the Society— His Character— By his orders, the 
Jesuits, expelled from Spain, are refused Admittance into the 
Papal Dominions — They are repulsed from Leghorn and Gfenoa — 
After Six Months' Wandering on the Sea, they are received in Cor- 
sica — Naples and Parma Expel the Jesuits from their States — The 
Pope Excommunicates the Duke of Parma — Indignation of 
Charles III. at the Boldness of the Pope— Louis XV. unites with 
him in Remonstrating against the Act — The Pope refuses to re-^ 
ceive the Remonstrance — The French Troops take Possession of 
Avignon — The Neapolitans of Benevento — The Pope has no 
Friend left to whom he can apply for Aid — The Courts of France, 
Spain, and Naples, demand the Suppression of the Order — Death 
of Clement XIII. — His Monument by Canova, • . 349 



CHAPTER XVI. 
1773. 

ABOLITION OF THE ORDER, 

The Court of Rome is divided into Zelanti and Regalisti — Intrigues 
of the two Parties to Insure the Tiara to one of their own Adhe- 
rents — Cardinal de Bernis — His Character — His Insinuations to 
the Conclave — Answer of the Opposite Faction — Charles III. 
Refuses to give his Support but to a Candidate who would promise 
to Abolish the Order — J oseph II., Emperor of Germany, and Leo- 
pold, Grand Duke of Tuscany, in Rome — Veneration of the 
Romans for the names of Republic and Emperor — Joseph is 
courted by both Parties — His Visit to the Gesu — His Words to 
the General — Consternation which they produce — He affects an 
Indifference as to the Election of the Pope — He Visits the Con- 
clave — His Haughty Behaviour there — The Spanish Cardinals 
enter the Conclave — They succeed in bringing it to a close — Lo- 
renzo Ganganelli — His Birth — First Education — Character — 
Habits before and after being elected Pope — Ranke and others 
exaggerate the Virtues of Ganganelli — His Ambition — His Equi- 
vocal Conduct in order to gratify it — How he was chosen to the 
Throne — Written Opinion concerning the Abolition of the Jesuits, 
given by him to the Spanish Cardinals — Whether this constitutes 
the Sin of Simony — Specious part played by De Bernis in the In- 
trigues for the Election — Joy of Ganganelli at being elected Pope 
— His Liberal and Tolerant Policy — Tb e Affair of the Jesuits Poisons 
all his Joy — His Perplexities on the Measure of Abolishing them 
— He flatters De Bernis, in order to obtain some delay in coming 
to a Decision — He obtains some Respite — He goes to Castei-Gan- 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

dolfo to enjoy this short Triumph— Charles III. and Choiseul 
press De Bernis to bring the Pope to a Speedy Decision — Bernis' 
Urgency with the Pope — Letter of Granganelli to the King of 
Spain to obtain some Respite — The Jesuits assert that Granganelli 
was Forced by the Sovereigns to Abolish the Order — How far this 
Assertion is true — Very Plausible Reasons why he Hesitated so 
long to Abolish the Order — Some of them less honourable — The 
Pope is afraid of being Poisoned by the Jesuits — Menacing Atti- 
tude of the Sovereigns of the House of Bourbon toward the Court 
of Rome — Florida Blanca, Spanish Ambassador — Clement resists 
all Importunities till he is persuaded that the Abolition is an 
Act of Supreme Justice — His Foreboding in Signing the Bull of 
Suppression — A Short Analysis of the Bull — Gfioberti's Opinion of 
it — The Bull Dominus et Redemptor, . . . 362 

Proceedings against the Jesuits immediately after the Publication of 
the Bull— A Retrospective Gflance at the Progress of the Order — 
Its Humble Origin — Its Increase — Its Considerable Power — Num- 
ber of Houses, Colleges, and Fathers at the Epoch of the Sup- 
pression — Approximate Estimate of their Wealth — Different 
Sources of it — Ricci's Denial that the Order possesses any Money 
— Reasons for believing otherwise — Ricci and some other J esuits 
sent Prisoners to the Castel St Angelo — Slanders of the J esuits on 
Granganelli's Conduct, . . . . . 407 



CHAPTER XVII. 
1774. 

DEATH OF CLEMENT XIV. 

After the Issuing of the Bull, Clement re-assumes his gay hu- 
mour—His Health is perfect— Unanimity of the Authors on this 
point— The Jesuits have his Death Predicted— The Pythoness of 
Valentano— Sudden Illness of the Pope— Symptoms— His Delirium 
— Compulsus feci — He resumes some Composure — His Death, 1774 
— The Romans had expected his Death — Indecent J oy of the J esuits— 
What was the Nature of Clement's Illness— The Jesuits assert that 
he died of Remorse — Untruth of the Assertion — Reason for it — 
Decomposition of Ganganelli's Body after his Death— Salicetti, the 
Apostolic Physician, declares the Rumour False that the Pope 
Died by Poison— The Romans had no doubt that he perished by the 
Aequo, Tofana— Grioberti's Authorities for believing the Pope 
Poisoned— Irrefragable Testimony of De Bernis— His Letter to 
the Court of France — Character of Granganelli, 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
1773-1814. 

THE JESUITS DURING THE SUPPRESSION. 

Conduct of the Jesuits after the Suppression— Few obey the Bull— 
They seek an Asylum with Protestant Princes— Strange conduct 



C0N1ENTS. 



xxiii 



of Frederick of Prussia — He Protects the J esuits — Is Ridiculed 
by his friend D'Alembert — The Jesuits in Silesia — Braschi (Pius 
VI.) succeeds Ganganelli in the Papal Chair — The Sovereigns of 
the House of Bourbon press him to see the Bull of his Predecessor 
executed— Character of Braschi — He fears rather than loves the 
Jesuits — He writes to Frederick — The Answer of the King — St 
Priest explains the Conduct of Frederick — The Author differs with 
him in Opinion, ...... 422 

Catherine of Russia protects the J esuits — Her Motives — The J esuits 
Establish themselves in Russia in Opposition to the Pope's Com- 
mand—Death of Ricci — The Jesuits in Russia name a Vicar- 
General — Siestreneewiecz, Bishop of Mohilow — He permits the 
Jesuits to receive Novices — Remonstrances of the Court of Rome 
— The Jesuits name a General and act as if the Bull of Suppres- 
sion had not been Issued — How Cretineau Exculpates them — Chi- 
aramonti (Pius VII.) succeeds Braschi — He Re-establishes the 
Society in White Russia — Its Progress there — Grouber elected 
General — His Talents and Prudence — The Jesuits Re-established 
in Sicily — Grouber Dies in a Conflagration — Imprudent Conduct 
of the Jesuits after his Death — Alexander Expels them from St 
Petersburg — The Jesuits persisting in their Criminal Practices, 
are Expelled from Russia, 1820, .... 430 



CHAPTER XIX. 
1814. 

KE-E S TABLISMENT. 

Fall of Napoleon — Restoration of different Princes— The Jesuits 
pretend that all the Evils of the last Revolution were the Conse- 
quences of their Suppression— The Princes Believe or feign to Be- 
lieve it — The J esuits are the natural Enemies of the Liberals — 
Restoration of Pius VII. — His Character — He Re-establishes the 
Order— Why— The Bull of Re-establishment weakens but little 
that of Suppression— Short Analysis of the Former— Bull of Re- 
establishment, 1814 — The J esuits flock to Rome from every part 
—Eagerness of many to become Members of the Society — The 
King of Sardinia a J esuit — Italy covered with Jesuits — Their per- 
fect Understanding with the Pope — Hatred of the Italians against 
the Order — They Invade the principal Countries of Europe — They 
are Befriended by Ferdinand VII. in Spain— They side with Don 
Carlos— Are Abolished by the Cortes, 1835— They re-enter, and 
are soon after Expelled from Portugal— Metternich refuses to admit 
the J esuits into Austria — They are permitted to Establish them- 
selves in Galicia — Their Influence there, and its Effects — 
The Jesuits Excluded from every other part of Germany — 
The Jesuits in Holland— Ungrateful to King William — Their 
undutiful Conduct there— They Prepare the Revolution of 1830— 
Their flourishing state in Belgium— Vicissitudes of the Jesuits in 
France after 1764— They never quitted the Country— Different 
Names under which they Concealed themselves— The Sisters of 
the Sacred Heart— The Congregation of the Sacred Family of the 



xxiv 



CONTENTS. 



Virgin— Their Object— The Fathers of the Faith Suppressed by 
Napoleon — Also the Congregation of the Virgin — Intrigues and 
Conduct of the Jesuits after the Restoration — They court the 
Favour of the Clergy— Their Mission— They Monopolise the Edu- 
cation — Decree against them in 1828 — They disappear from France 
after the Revolution of 1830 — They are again found numerous in 
1836 — Affairs of Affnaer — Thiers invokes against them the Laws of 
the Land — Rossi's Mission to Rome — Its Results — The Jesuits 
constrained to Abandon their Establishments — Their Colleges of 
Bragellette and Friburg — Little is known of them for some years 
— Their Re-appearance in 1849 — Their Influence in the present Day 
— Affairs of Lucerne — The Jesuits guilty of Fomenting the Civil 
War — Cretineau's Account of the Jesuits' Conduct in England — 
Mr Weld presents the Jesuits with his Property in Stoneyhurst — 
— Their rapid Progress there — Prodigious Increase of the Papists 
after their Establishment fhere — Part of the Colony pass over to 
Ireland — Father Kenny, Vice-President of Maynooth — The 
Jesuits Disregard the Clause of the Emancipation Act on the Re- 
ligious Corporations — The Fifth, Secret Class of the Jesuits the 
most Dangerous of all — Perfidious Arts of the J esuits in making 
Converts — The Puseyites — The Papists rely upon them — Their 
Eulogium by Cretineau — Rome desires the Ruin of England — Has 
intrusted to the Jesuits the Mission of bringing it about — The 
Jesuits more Dangerous to Protestantism than all other Monks — 
Every Roman Catholic Priest is by his Calling obliged to Labour 
for the Extirpation of Protestants — England ought to awake to a 
Sense of her Danger, •••••• 436 



CHAPTER XX. 
1848-1852. 

THE JESUITS IN AND AFTER 1848, 

Italy the Seat of Jesuitical Power after the Re-establishment of the 
Order— State of the Peninsula before the Pontificate of Pius IX. 
— Auspicious Beginning of his Reign — The Jesuits Oppose his 
Acts of Benevolence — The Romans decide upon Depriving the 
Priests of all Civil Authority— Resistance of the Pope— Death of 
Grazioli, the Pope's Confessor— Pius falls back to the Errors of 
former Popes — Hatred of the Romans to the J esuits — II Gesuita 
Moderno—Gioherti in Rome— The Pope's Menaces against the 
Enemies of the Order— The Jesuits forced to leave Rome— Mortal 
Hatred vowed by the Pope against the Liberals— Flight of the Pope 
to Graeta— Moderation of the Romans— Plots of the J esuits and 
Cardinal Antonelli— Crusade to Replace the Pope on the Throne- 
Louis Napoleon, who fought in 1831 against the Pope, sends an 
Army against the Roman Republic— Why— General Oudinot— His 
Jesuitical Conduct— Gallantry of the Romans in Defending their 
Country— They are obliged to yield— Reproaches against England 
for having Abandoned the Cause of Civil and Religious Freedom- 
Serious Consequences which followed— Whether England could 
with justice have Interfered in the Affairs of Italy— The French 
enter Rome— Oudinot goes to Gaeta— Receives the Pope's Blessing 



CONTENTS. 



XXY 



— Acts of Revenge of the Clerical Party after their Restoration — 
Miserable Condition of the Roman States — The Executions at 
Sinigallia and Ancona— Political Assassinations in those Towns — 
The Jesuits suspected of being the Instigators — How State Trials 
are Conducted in the Papal Dominions — a Note upon Simoncelli — 
The Pope grants £40,000 to his native Town for erecting a J esuit 
College — Reception of the J esuits on their Re-entering Naples — 
Ridiculous Addresses — The Jesuits All-powerful in the Two Sicilies 
— Abominable Conduct of the Neapolitan Grovernment — Jesuitism 
invades Tuscany — Its Effects — Religious Persecution — Jesuits 
Introduced into Lombardy — The Jesuits Excluded from Piedmont 
— The Clergy refuse to submit to Equality of Rights — The Priest 
considers himself a Superior Being — Why — Intrigues and Hatred 
of the Piedmontese Clergy against the Grovernment — Ominous In- 
fluence possessed by the Jesuits in France at the present moment — 
The Laws of Providence — Popery can never again be the Religion of 
the Italians — Abject Flattery of theJesuitsto Louis Napoleon — His 
Character — The Priests help him to grasp the Imperial Crown — 
His Marriage — "Why we do not speak of the Actual State of the 
Jesuits in England, ...... 469 

Conclusion, . . . • . . 493 



INDEX . 497 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



1. Portrait of Loyola {Frontispiece). 



Page 

2. „ Xavier 98 

3. „ Lainez 133 

4. „ Borgia 145 

5. „ Acquaviva 210 

6. „ Lachaise 270 

7. „ Ricci 357 

8. „ Ganganelli 413 



INTRODUCTION. 



When I first intimated to some of my friends my in- 
tention of writing the History of the Jesuits, most of 
them dissuaded me from the enterprise, as from a task 
too difficult. I am fully aware of all the difficulties I 
have to encounter in my undertaking. I am sensible 
that to write a complete and detailed history of the 
Jesuits would require more time and learning than 
I have to bestow: neither could such a history be 
brought within the compass of six or seven hundred 
pages. It will be my endeavour, however, to give as 
faithful an account of the Society as I can, to furnish 
an accurate narrative of facts, and an outline of the 
principal members of the order. Thus much, at 
least, with the aid of time, patience, and study, may 
be achieved by any one. 

I confess, too, that I am encouraged by a sense of 
the intrinsic interest of the subject itself, which may 
well do much to cast a veil over my own imperfect 
treatment of it : for, amidst the general wreck and 
decay of all human things, amidst the rise and fall of 
dynasties, nay, of empires themselves and whole 
nations of men, the inquiry may indeed give us pause 
— Wherein lay the seeds of that vitality in the ori- 
ginal constitution of the Jesuits, which has served 



2 



INTRODUCTION. 



during three centuries to maintain the ranks of the 
Society, under many shocks, still unbroken ? A suf- 
ficient answer to this inquiry will, I trust, be deve- 
loped during the course of my narrative. 

The main difficulty of my subject, as will be readily 
understood, lies in discovering and delineating the 
true character of the J esuits : for, take the Jesuit for 
what he ought or appears to be, and you commit the 
greatest of blunders. Draw the character after what 
the Jesuit seems to be in London, and you will not 
recognise your portrait in the Jesuit of Rome. The 
Jesuit is the man of circumstances. Despotic in Spain, 
constitutional in England, republican in Paraguay, 
bigot in Rome, idolater in India, he shall assume and 
act out in his own person, with admirable flexibility, 
all those different features by which men are usually 
to be distinguished from each other. He will accom- 
pany the gay woman of the world to the theatre, and 
will share in the excesses of the debauchee. With 
solemn countenance, he will take his place* by the 
side of the religious man at church, and he will revel 
in the tavern with the glutton and the sot. He 
dresses in all garbs, speaks all languages, knows 
all customs, is present everywhere though nowhere 
recognised — and all this, it should seem (0 monstrous 
blasphemy!), for the greater glory of God — ad 
majorem Dei gloriam. 

According to my opinion, in order to form a cor- 
rect estimate of the Jesuits, we must, first, study their 
code, and, disregarding its letter, endeavour to discover 
the spirit in and by which it was dictated ; secondly, 
we must be ever on our guard against the deception 
of judging them simply by their deeds, without con- 
stant reference to the results flowing from them — for 
we may rest assured that, in their case, it will be too 
often found that the fruit which externally may be 
fair and tempting to the eye, yields nothing at its 
core but vileness and corruption. 



INTRODUCTION. 



3 



It is under the guidance of such principles of criti- 
cism as these that I shall write my history. 

My reader^, however, must not look to find my 
book thick-sown throughout with nothing but vehe- 
ment and indiscriminate abuse against the order. 
Such is not the vehicle through which, in the judg- 
ment of the impartial, I shall be expected to manifest 
my disapproval, whenever the occasion for such disap- 
proval shall present itself. It will be my endeavour 
not to be led astray by any feeling whatsoever, but to 
give every one his due. Whatever I shall advance 
against the Jesuits, I shall prove upon their own 
authority, or by notorious, incontestable facts Alas! 
these will prove to be too numerous, and of too dark 
a character, to require the addition of anything that 
is untrue ; and the Society numbers among its mem- 
bers too many rogues to prevent its historian (if, 
indeed, one so unjust could be found) from making 
creditable mention, for poor humanity's sake, of the 
few honest, if misguided, ones he may chance to meet 
on his way. 

I hope my readers will be indulgent to me, if I 
promise that I will spare neither trouble nor exertion 
to surmount all the difficulties that lie in my path, 
and to present in as true a light as possible the 
crafty disciples of the brotherhood of Loyola. 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



CHAPTER I. 

1500-40. 
ORIGIN" OF THE ORDER. 

The sixteenth century presents itself pregnant with 
grave and all-important events. The old world dis- 
appears — a new order of things commences. The 
royal power, adorned with the seignorial prerogatives 
snatched from the subjugated barons, establishes itself 
amidst their ruined castles, beneath which lies buried 
the feudal system. Mercenary armies, now constantly 
maintained by the sovereign, render him independent 
of the military services of his subjects, and formid- 
able alike to foreign foes and to turbulent nobles. 
The monarchs advance rapidly towards despotism — 
the people subside into apathetic submission. Europe 
has become the appanage of a few masters. Henry 
VIII. of England, Francis I. of France, and Charles 
V. of Spain, share it among them ; but, not content 
with their respective dominions, they fight among 
themselves for the empire of the whole, or at least 
for supremacy of power. Henry having retired from 
tbe contest after the Electoral Congress of Frankfort, 



6 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



the other two continue the strife with varying suc- 
cess. The gold of the recently discovered western 
world, and his immense possessions/ give to Charles 
an enormous power. The bravery of a warlike nation 
makes formidable the chivalrous spirit of the indomit- 
able Francis. Their wars redden Europe with blood, 
yet produce no decided result. 

Meanwhile, as a compensation for these evils, the 
human mind, casting off the prejudices and igno- 
rance of the Middle Ages, marches to regeneration. 
Italy becomes, for the second time, the centre from 
whence the light of genius and learning shines forth 
over Europe. Leonardo da Vinci, Tiziano, Michael 
Angelo, are the sublime, the almost divine interpre- 
ters of art. Pulci, Ariosto, Poliziano, give a new and 
creative impulse to literature, and are the worthy 
descendants of Dante. Scholasticism, with its subtle 
argumentations, vague reasonings, and illogical de- 
ductions, is superseded by the practical philosophy of 
Lorenzo and Machiavelli, and by the irresistible and 
eloquent logic of the virtuous but unfortunate Savo- 
narola. Men who for the last three centuries had 
been satisfied with what had been taught and said 
by Aristotle and his followers — who, as the last and 
incontrovertible argument, had been accustomed to 
exclaim, Ipse dixit — now begin to think for them- 
selves, and dare to doubt and discuss what had 
hitherto been considered sacred and unassailable 
truths. The newly-awakened human intellect eagerly 
enters upon the new path, and becomes argumenta- 
tive and inquiring, to the great dismay of those who 
deprecated diversity of faith ; and the Court of Rome, 
depending on the blind obedience of the credulous, 
anathematising every disputer of the Papal infallibi- 
lity, views with especial concern this rising spirit of 
inquiry, and has to tremble for its usurped power. 

Fortunately, the three last Popes had bestowed 
little or no attention on the spiritual affairs of the 



ORIGIN OF THE ORDER. 



7 



world, and made no effort to combat the new ideas. 
Borgia, amid his incestuous debaucheries, had been 
solely intent upon suppressing by poniard and 
poison the refractory spirit of the Roman barons, and 
upon acquiring new territories for his cherished 
Caosar — a son worthy of such a father. Julius, in . 
his noble enterprise of ridding Italy from foreign 
domination, was a great deal fonder of casque and 
cuirass than of the Somma of St Thomas or any 
other theological book. Leo, son of that Lorenzo 
rightly called " Magnifico," had inherited his father's 
love of art and literature, and of every noble pursuit. 
Magnificent, generous, affable yet dignified in his 
manners, living amidst every luxury, the centre of 
the most splendid court in the world, he exhibited 
the characteristics of a temporal prince rather than 
those of the supreme pontiff. He took a greater 
interest in a stanza of Ariosto or a statue by Michael 
Angelo than in all the writings of the scholastics, of 
which, in fact, he knew very little. The impartial 
and accurate Sarpi says of him — He would have 
been a perfect pontiff, if to so many excellencies he 
had united some knowledge in ilie matter of religion, 
and a little more inclination to piety, two things 
about which he seemed to care but little." * He 
laughed heartily when some of his more bigoted 
prelates pointed out to him the imminent perils to 
religion and the Church from the rapid spread of 
the new and dangerous doctrines. He viewed the 
quarrels between the Dominican and Augustine Friars 
much in the same light in which Homer is supposed to 
have regarded the battle of the frogs and mice, and 
was at last roused from his indifference only when 
Luther attacked— not any article of faith, but his pre- 
tended right of selling indulgences to replenish his 
coffers and provide his sister's dowry. Yet even then 
he would have preferred a compromise to a religious 
* History of the Council of Trent, by Fra Paolo Sarpi, tome i. p. 9. 



8 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



war. Had his fanatical courtiers participated in his 
prudent scruples, the Roman Church might have long 
retained Germany and many other European coun- 
tries under her yoke. But God in his wisdom had 
ordained otherwise. 

To a very submissive letter which the Reformer 
addressed to the Pope, appealing to him as to a 
judge, the' Court of Rome replied by a bull of excom- 
munication. Upon this Luther renewed his anxious 
investigation of the Holy Scriptures with increased 
ardour; and, becoming more and more powerfully 
convinced that he had been propounding nothing but 
the Word of God, fearlessly cast aside all idea of a 
reconciliation, and stood firm in support of his doc- 
trines. Previously he might have been inclined to 
keep in abeyance some of his private opinions, but 
now he had come to consider it a deadly sin not to 
preach the truth as expressed by God in his Holy 
Word. 

The German princes, partly persuaded of the truth 
of Luther's doctrines, partly desirous to escape the 
exacting tyranny of Rome which drained their sub- 
jects' pockets, supported the Reformer. They pro- 
tested at Spires, and at Smalkaden made prepara- 
tions to maintain their protest by arms. In a few 
years, without armed violence, but simply by the 
persuasive force of truth, the greater part of Germany 
became converted to the Reformed faith. The honest 
indignation of Zuinglius in Switzerland, and, conspir- 
ing with the diffusion of the truth, the unbridled 
passions of Henry VIII. in England, alike rescued a 
considerable portion of their respective countries from 
the Romish yoke. In France and in Navarre the 
new doctrines found many warm adherents ; whilst 
in Italy itself, at Brescia, Pisa, Florence, nay, even 
at Rome and at Faenza, there were many who more 
or less openly embraced the principles of the Refor- 
mation. Thus, in a short time, the Roman religion— 



ORIGIN OF THE ORDER. 



9 



founded in ancient and deep-rooted prejudices — sup- 
ported by the two greatest powers in the world, the 
Pope and the Emperor — defended by all the bishops 
and priests, who lived luxuriously by it — was over- 
turned throughout a great part of Europe. 

And let us here admire the hand of Divine Provi- 
dence ! As if with the special view of facilitating the 
rapid diffusion of the Reformed religion, there was 
given to the world but a few years before, and in that 
same Germany where it took its rise, the most won- 
derful and efficient instrumont for the purpose — the 
Art of Printing. Without the press, Luther's doc- 
trines would never have spread so widely in so very 
few months. As at that time this beneficent invention 
was a powerful agent in advancing religious reforma- 
tion, so has it since become an effective means of 
political as well as religious enfranchisement. Hence 
the hatred of the Popes and their brother despots 
towards this staunch supporter of liberty. 

But while the Word of God was thus rescuing such 
multitudes from idolatry, the Spirit of Evil, furious at 
the escape of so many victims whom he had already 
counted his own, made a desperate effort to retrieve 
his past, and prevent future losses. He saw, with 
dismay, Divine truth, like a vast and ever-extending 
inundation, rapidly undermining and throwing down, 
one by one, his many strongholds of superstition and 
ignorance ; and, with the despairing energy of baffled 
malignity, he set about rearing up a bulwark which 
should check the tide ere its work of destruction was 
completed. For this bulwark he devised the since 
famous order of the Jesuits, which arose almost 
simultaneously with the establishment of the Refor- 
mation. So we may say. The Roman Catholic 
writers, however, ascribe the origin of the Jesuits 
to a far different influence. They declare, " that, as 
from time to time new heresies have afflicted the 
Church of God, so He has raised up holy men to 



10 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



combat them ; and as He had raised up St Dominic 
against the Albigenses and Vaudois, so He sent 
Loyola and his disciples against the Lutherans and 
Calvinists." * 

It is of this renowned and dreaded Society that I 
purpose to write the history. As a matter of course, 
the first few pages will contain a biographical sketch 
of its bold and sagacious founder, to whom altars have 
been consecrated, and who is still regarded as the- 
type and soul of the order. 

Inigo, or, as commonly .called, Ignatius Loyola, the 
youngest of eleven children of a noble and ancient 
family, was born in the year 1491, in his father's 
castle of Loyola at Guipuscoa in Spain. He was of 
middle stature, and rather dark complexion; had 
deep-set piercing eyes, and a handsome and noble 
countenance. While yet young he had become bald, 
which gave him an expression of dignity, that was 
not impaired by a lameness arising from a severe 
wound. His father, a worldly man, as his biographer 
says, instead of sending him to some holy community 
to be instructed in religion and piety, placed him as 
a page at the court of Ferdinand V. But Ignatius, 
naturally of a bold and aspiring disposition, soon found 
that no glory was to be reaped in the antechambers 
of the Catholic king ; and, delighting in military ex- 
ercises, he . became a soldier — and a brave one he 
proved. His historians, to make his subsequent con- 
version appear more wonderful and miraculous, have 
represented him as a perfect monster of iniquity ; but, 
in truth, he was merely a gay soldier, fond of plea- 
sure no doubt, yet not more debauched than the 
generality of his brother officers. His profligacy, 
whatever it was, did not prevent him from being 

* Helyot, Histoire des Ordres Monastiques, Religieux et Militaires, 
tome vii. p. 452. When we have modern Catholic authors who quote 
from Sacchinus Orlandinus, &c, we shall quote them, as books more 
easily to be had. 



ORIGIN OF THE ORDER. 



11 



a man of strict honour, never backward in time of 
danger. 

At the defence of Pampeluna against the French, 
in 1521, Ignatius, while bravely performing his duty 
on the walls, was struck down by a ball, which dis- 
abled both his legs. With him fell the courage 
of the besieged. They yielded, and the victors enter- 
ing the town, found the wounded officer, and kindly 
sent him to his father's castle, which was not far dis- 
tant. Here he endured all the agonies which gene- 
rally attend gunshot wounds, and an inflammatory 
fever which supervened brought him to the verge 
of the grave — when, "Oh, miracle!" exclaims his 
biographer, " it being the eve of the feast of the 
glorious saints Peter and Paul, the prince of the 
apostles appeared to him in a vision, and touched him, 
whereby he was, if not immediately restored to 
health, at least put in a fair way of recovery." Now 
the fact is, that the patient uttered not a syllable 
regarding his vision at the time ; nevertheless we are 
gravely assured that the miracle was not the less 
a fact. Be this, however, as it may, Ignatius un- 
doubtedly recovered, though slowly. During his long 
convalescence, he sought to beguile the tedious hours 
of irksome inactivity passed in the sick chamber by 
reading all the books of knight-errantry which could 
be procured. The chivalrous exploits of the Ro- 
lands and Amadises made a deep impression upon 
his imagination, which, rendered morbidly sensitive 
by a long illness, may well be supposed to have been 
by no means improved by such a course of study. 
When these books were exhausted, some pious friend 
brought him the Lives of the Saints. This work, 
however, not suiting his taste, Ignatius at first flung it 
aside in disgust, but afterwards, from sheer lack of 
better amusement, he began to read it. It presented 
to him a new phase of the romantic and marvellous, 
in which he so much delighted. He soon became 



12 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



deeply interested, and read it over and over again. 
The strange adventures of these saints — the praise, 
the adoration, the glorious renown which they acquired 
— so fired his mind, that he almost forgot his favourite 
paladins. His ardent ambition saw here a new career 
opened up to it. He longed to become a saint. 

Yet the military life had not lost its attractions for 
him. ' It did not require the painful preparation ne- 
cessary to earn a saintly reputation, and was, more- 
over, more in accordance with his education and tastes. 
He long hesitated which course to adopt — whether he 
should win the laurels of a hero, or earn the crown 
of a saint. Had he perfectly recovered from the 
effects of his wound, there is little doubt but that 
he would have chosen the laurels. But this was not 
to be. Although he was restored to health, his leg- 
remained hopelessly deformed — he was a cripple for 
life. It appeared that his restorer, St Peter, although 
upon the whole a tolerably good physician, was by 
no means an expert surgeon. The broken bone of 
his leg had not been properly set; part of it pro- 
truded through the skin below the knee, and the limb 
was short. Sorely, but vainly, did Ignatius strive to 
remove these impediments to a military career, which 
his unskilful though saintly surgeon had permitted to 
remain. He had the projecting piece of bone sawn 
off, and his shortened leg painfully extended by me- 
chanical appliances, in the hope of restoring it to its 
original fine proportions. The attempt failed ; so he 
found himself, at the age of thirty-two, with a 
shrunken limb, with little or no renown, and, by 
his incurable lameness, rendered but slightly capa- 
ble of acquiring military glory. Nothing then re- 
mained for him but to become a saint. 

Saintship being thus, as it were, forced upon him, 
he at once set about the task of achieving it, with all 
that ardour which he brought to bear upon every 
pursuit. He became daily absorbed in the most pro- 



ORIGIN" OF THE ORDER. 



13 



found meditations, and made a full confession of all 
his past sins, which was so often interrupted by his 
passionate outbursts of penitent weeping, that it lasted 
three days.* To stimulate his devotion, he lacerated 
his flesh with the scourge, and abjuring his past life, 
he hung up his sword beside the altar in the church 
of the convent of Monserrat. Meeting a beggar on 
the public road, he exchanged clothes with him, and, 
habited in the loathsome rags of the mendicant, 
retired to a cave near Manreze, where he nearly 
starved himself. Y/hen he next reappeared in pub- 
lic, he found his hopes almost realised. His fame had 
spread far and wide; the people flocked from all 
quarters to see him — visited his cave with feelings of 
reverent curiosity — and, in short, nothing was talked 
of but the holy man and his severe penances. But 
now the Evil Spirit began to assail him. The tender 
conscience of Ignatius began to torment him with the 
fear that all this public notice had made him proud; 
that, while he had almost begun to consider himself 
a saint, he w Y as, in reality, by reason of that very 
belief itself, the most heinous of sinners. So embit- 
tered did his life become in consequence of these 
thoughts, that he went wellnigh distracted. " But 
God supported him ; and the Tempter, baffled in his 
attempts, fled. Ignatius fasted for seven days, 
neither eating nor drinking ; went again to the con- 
fessional ; and, receiving absolution, was not only 
delivered from the stings of his own conscience, but 
obtained the gift of healing the troubled consciences 
of others."] This miraculous gift Ignatius is believed 
to have transmitted to his successors, and it is in a 
great measure to this belief that the enormous influ- 
ence of the Company of Jesus is to be attributed, as 
we shall see hereafter. 

Now that Ignatius could endure his saintship with- 

* Helyct, Hist, des Ord. Mon. } Rel. et Mil., tome vii. p. 456. 
t Ibid. p. 459. 



14 t HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



out being overwhelmed by a feeling of sinfulness, he 
pursued his course with renewed alacrity. Yet it 
was in itself by no means an attractive one. In order 
to be a perfect Catholic saint, a man must become a 
sort of misanthrope — cast aside wholesome and cleanly 
apparel, go about clothed in filthy rags, wearing hair- 
cloth next his skin — and, renouncing the world and 
its inhabitants, must retire to some noisome den, 
there to live in solitary meditation, with wild roots 
and water for food, daily applying the scourge to 
expiate his sins — of which, according to one of the 
disheartening doctrines of the Catholic Church, even 
the just commit at least seven a day. The saint must 
enter into open rebellion against the laws and instincts 
of human nature, and consequently against the will of 
the Creator. And although it cannot be denied that 
some of the founders of monastic orders conscien- 
tiously believed that their rules were conducive to 
holiness and eternal beatitude, nevertheless, we may 
with justice charge them with overlooking the fact, 
that as the transgression of the laws of nature inva- 
riably brings along with it its own punishment — -a 
certain evidence of the Divine displeasure — true holi- 
ness cannot consist in disregarding and opposing them. 

Ignatius, however, continued his life of penance, 
made to the Virgin Mary a solemn vow of perpetual 
chastity, begged for his bread, often scourged himself, 
and spent many hours a day in prayer and medita- 
tion. What he meditated upon, God only knows. 
After a few months of this ascetic life, he published 
a little book which much increased his fame for 
sanctity. It is a small octavo volume, and bears the 
title of Spiritual Exercises* As this work, the 
only one he has left, is the acknowledged standard of 

* By the term " Spiritual Exercises," Catholics understand that 
course of solitary prayer and religious meditation, generally extending 
over many days, which candidates for holy orders have to perform in the 
seclusion of a convent previous to being consecrated. Again, when a 



ORIGIN OF THE ORDER. 



15 



the Jesuits' religious practice, and is by them extolled 
to the skies, we must say some few words about it. 

First of all, we shall relate the supernatural origin 
assigned to it by the disciples and panegyrists of its 
author. 

"He" (Ignatius) " had already done much for 
God's sake, and God now rendered it back to him 
with usury. A courtier, a man of pleasure, and a 
soldier, he had neither the time nor the will to gather 
knowledge from books. But the knowledge of man, 
the most difficult of all, was divinely revealed to him. 
The master who was to form so many masters, was 
himself formed by Divine illumination. He composed 
the Spiritual Exercises, a work which had a most 
important place in his life, and is powerfully reflected 
in the history of his disciples/' 

This quotation is from Cretineau Joly (vol i. p. 18), 
an author who professes not to belong to the Society, 
but whose book was published under the patronage 
of the Jesuits, who, he says, opened to him all the 
depositories of unpublished letters and manuscripts in 
their principal convent, the Gesu, at Rome ; he wrote 
also a virulent pamphlet against the great Pontiff 
Clement XIV., the suppressor of the Jesuits. Hence 
we consider ourselves fairly entitled to rank the few 
quotations we shall make from him as among those 
emanating from the writers that belong to the order; 
and we are confident that no Jesuit would ever think 
of repudiating Cretineau Joly. This author proceeds 
to state, that " in the manuscript in which Father 
Jouvency narrates in elegant Latin those strange 
events, it is said — 6 This light shed by the Divine will 
upon Ignatius shewed him openly and without veil 
the mystery of the adorable Trinity and other arcana 
of religion. He remained for eight days as if de- 
priest incurs the displeasure of his superior, he is sent as a sort of 
prisoner to some convent, there to perform certain prescribed "spiritual 
^exercises," which in this case may last from one to three weeks. 



16 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



prived of life. What he witnessed during this ecstatic 
trance, as well as in many other visions which he had 
during life, no one knows. He had indeed committed 
these celestial visions to paper, but shortly before his 
death he burned the book containing them, lest it 
should fall into unworthy hands. A few pages, how- 
ever, escaped his precautions, and from them one can 
easily conjecture that he must have been from day to 
day loaded with still greater favours. Chiefly was 
he sweetly ravished in contemplating the dignity of 
Christ the Lord, and his inconceivable charity to- 
wards the human race. As the mind of Ignatius was 
filled with military ideas, he figured to himself Christ 
as a general fighting for the Divine glory, and call- 
ing on all men to gather under his standard. Hence 
sprang his desire to form an army of which Jesus 
should be the chief and commander, the standard 
inscribed — 6 Ad majorem Dei gloriam' " 

With deference to M. Joly, we think that a more 
mundane origin may be found for the " Exercises" 
in the feverish dreams of a heated imagination. Be 
this as it may, however, we shall proceed to lay 
before our readers a short analysis of it, extracted 
from Cardinal Wiseman's preface to the last edition. 
He says — " This is a practical, not a theoretical work. 
It is not a treatise on sin or on virtue ; it is not a 
method of Christian perfection, but it contains the 
entire practice of perfection, by making us at once 
conquer sin and acquire the highest virtue. The 
person who goes through the Exercises is not in- 
structed, but is made to act ; and this book will not be 
intelligible apart from this view." 

" The reader will observe that it is divided into 
Four Weeks; and each of these has a specific object, to 
advance the exercitant an additional step towards per- 
fect virtue. If the work of each week be thoroughly 
done, this is actually accomplished.* 

* The Italics here are our own. 



ORIGIN OF THE ORDER. 



17 



" The first week has for its aim the cleansing of 
the conscience from past sin, and of the affections 
from their future dangers. For this purpose, the 
soul is made to convince itself deeply of the true end 
of its being — to serve God and be saved, and of the 
real worth of all else. This consideration has been 
justly called by St Ignatius the principle or founda- 
tion of the entire system." The Cardinal assures us 
that the certain result of this first week's exercises is, 
that " sin is abandoned, hated, loathed 

" In the second, the life of Christ is made our 
model ; by a series of contemplations of it we become 
familiar with his virtues, enamoured of his perfec- 
tions ; we learn, by copying him, forbe obedient to 
God and man, meek, humble, affectionate; zealous, 
charitable, and forgiving ; men of only one wish and 
one thought — that of doing ever God's holy will 
alone ; discreet, devout, observant of every law, scru- 
pulous performers of every duty. Every meditation 
on these subjects shews us how to do all this ; in fact, 

makes us really do it.* The third week 

brings us to this. Having desired and tried to be 
like Christ in action, we are brought to wish and 
endeavour to be like unto him in suffering. For this 
purpose his sacred passion becomes the engrossing 

subject of the Exercises But she (the soul) 

must be convinced and feel, that if she suffers, she also 
shall be glorified with him ; and hence the fourth and 
concluding week raises the soul to the consideration 
of those glories which crowned the humiliations and 
sufferings of our Lord." Then, after a highly figu- 
rative eulogium upon the efficacy of the Exercises 
" duly performed," the reverend prelate proceeds to 
shew that the one " essential element of a spiritual 
retreat " (for so the Exercises reduced to action are 
popularly called ) " is direction. In the Catholic 
Church no one is ever allowed to trust himself in 

* The Italics here are our own. 



18 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. > 



spiritual matters. The sovereign pontiff is obliged to 
submit himself to the direction of another, in what- 
ever concerns his own soul. The life of a good re- 
treat is a good director of it." This director modifies 
(according to certain written rules) the order of the 
Exercises, to adapt them to the peculiar character of 
the exercitant ; regulates the time employed in them, 
watches their effects, and, like a physician prescribing 
for a patient, varies the treatment according to the 
symptoms exhibited, encouraging those which seem 
favourable, and suppressing those which are detrimen- 
tal, to the desired result. " Let no one," says the 
Cardinal, " think of undertaking these holy Exercises 
without the guidance of a prudent and experienced 
director." 

" It will be seen that the weeks of the Exercises do 
not mean necessarily a period of seven days. The 
original period of their performance was certainly a 
month ; but even so, more or less time was allotted 
to each week's work according to the discretion of the 
director. Now, except in very particular circum- 
stances, the entire period is abridged to ten days; 
sometimes it is still further reduced." 

It will be observed from the above extracts, that 
the Cardinal, ignoring the fact that the sinner's con- 
version must be effected entirely by the operation of 
the Holy Spirit, seems to regard the unregenerate 
human soul merely as a piece of raw material, which 
the " director " may, as it were, manufacture into a 
saint, simply by subjecting it to the process pre- 
scribed in the Exercises. 

In regard to the merits of the book, I cannot agree 
either with Wiseman or a very brilliant Protestant 
writer,* who, speaking of the approbation bestowed 
on it by Pope Paul III., says — " Yet on this sub- 
ject the chair of Knox, if now filled by himself, would 
not be very widely at variance with the throne of St 
* Stephens. 



ORIGIN OF THE ORDER. 



19 



Peter." The book certainly does not deserve this 
high eulogium. However, it cannot be denied that, 
amidst many recommendations of many absurd and 
superstitious practices proper to the Popish religion, 
the little volume does contain some very good maxims 
and precepts. For instance, here are two passages to 
which I am sure that not even the most anti- Catholic 
Protestant could reasonably object. At page 16 it is 
said — 

" Man was created for this end, that he might 
praise and reverence the Lord his God, and, serving 
him, at length be saved.* But the other things which 
are placed on the earth were created for man's sake, 
that they might assist him in pursuing the end of 
creation ; whence it follows, that they are to be used 
or abstained from in proportion as they benefit or 
hinder him in pursuing that end. Wherefore we 
ought to be indifferent towards all created things (in 
so far as they are subject to the liberty of our will, 
and not prohibited), so that (to the best of our power) 
we seek not health more than sickness, nor prefer 
riches to poverty, honour to contempt, a long life to 
a short one. But it is fitting, out of all, to choose 
and desire those things only which lead to the end." 
And again, at page 33 — " The third" (article for 
meditation) " is, to consider myself; who, or of what 
kind I am, adding comparisons which may bring me 
to a greater contempt of myself ; as, if I reflect how 
little I am when compared with all men; then, what 
the whole multitude of mortals is, as compared with 
the angels and all the blessed: after these things I 
must consider what, in fact, all the creation is in com- 
parison with God the Creator himself; what now 
can I, one mere human being, be? Lastly, let me 
look at the corruption of my whole self, the wicked- 
ness of my soul, and the pollution of my body, and 
account myself to be a kind of ulcer or boil, from 

* See the Shorter Catechism, Qu. 1. 



20 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



which so great and foul a flood of sins, so great a 
pestilence of vices, has flowed down. 

" The fourth is, to consider what God is, w^hom I 
have thus offended, collecting the perfections which 
are God's peculiar attributes, and comparing them 
with my opposite vices and defects ; comparing, that 
is to say, his supreme power, wisdom, goodness, and 
justice, with my extreme weakness, ignorance, wick- 
edness, and iniquity." 

But then the above " Exercises " are followed by 
certain " Additions," which are recommended as con- 
ducing to their " better performance." Some of these 
are very strange; for instance — " The fourth is, to set 
about the contemplation itself, now kneeling on the 
ground, now lying on my face or on my back; now 
sitting or standing, and composing myself, in the way 
in which I may hope the more easily to attain what 
I desire. In which matter, these two things must 
be attended to : the first, that if, on my knees or in 
any other posture, I obtain what I wish, I seek 
nothing further. The second, that on the point in 
which I shall have attained the devotion I seek, I 
ought to rest, without being anxious about pressing 
on until I shall have satisfied myself." " The sixth, 
that I avoid those thoughts which bring joy, as that 
of the glorious resurrection of Christ; since any 
such thought hinders the tears and grief for my sins, 
which must then be sought by calling in mind rather 
death or- judgment." " The seventh, that, for the 
same reason. I deprive myself of all the brightness of 
the light, shutting the doors and windows so long as 
I remain there" (in my chamber), " except while I 
have to read or take my food." At page 55 we find, 
in the Second Week — " The Fifth Contemplation is 
the application of the senses to those " (contemplations) 
i: mentioned above. After the preparatory prayer, 
with the three aleady mentioned preludes, it is emi- 
nently useful to exercise the five imaginary senses 



ORIGIN OF THE ORDER. 



21 



concerning the first and second contemplations in the 
following way, according as the subject shall bear. 

" The first point will be, to see in imagination all 
the persons, and, noting the circumstances which shall 
occur concerning them, to draw out what may be pro- 
fitable to ourselves, 

" The second, by hearing, as it were, what they 
are saying, or what it may be natural for them to 
say, to turn all to our own advantage. 

" The third, to perceive, by a certain inward taste 
and smell, how great is the sweetness and delight- 
fulness of the soul imbued with Divine gifts and 
virtues, according to the nature of the person we are 
considering, adapting to ourselves those things which 
may bring us some fruit. 

" The fourth, by an inward touch, to handle and 
kiss the garments, places, footsteps, and other things 
connected with such persons ; whence we may de- 
rive a greater increase of devotion, or of any spiritual 
good. 

" This contemplation will be terminated^ like the 
former ones, by adding, in like manner, Pater 
nosier." 

At page 52, among tilings " to be noted " is — 
" The second, that the first exercise concerning 
the Incarnation of Christ is performed at midnight ; 
the next at dawn ; the third about the hour of mass ; 
the fourth about the time of vespers ; the fifth a little 
before supper ; and on each of them will be spent the 
space of one hour ; which same thing has to bo 
observed henceforward everywhere." 

Loyola's next step towards holiness was a pil- 
grimage to Palestine to convert the infidels. What 
he did in the Holy Land w r e do not know ; his bio- 
grapher tells us only that he was sent back by the 
Franciscan friar who exercised there the Papal 
authority.* 

* Hel. Hist, dee Ord. Mori., Bel. et Mil. tome vii. p. 461. 
c 



22 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



On his homeward voyage, Ignatius conceived that 
a little learning would perhaps help him in the task 
of converting heretics, and thus furnish him with an 
additional chance of rendering himself famous ; so 
after his return he attended a school at Barcelona 
for two years, where, a full-grown man of thirty- 
four, he learned the rudiments of the Latin language, 
sitting upon the same bench with little boys. 

Having failed to make any proselytes to his ex- 
travagances at Barcelona, he went to Alcala, and 
studied in the university newly erected there by Car- 
dinal Ximenes. Here he attracted much public 
notice by the eccentricities of his fanatical piety. 
He wore a peculiar dress of coarse material, and by 
his fervid discourse contrived to win over to his 
mode of life four or five young men, whom he 
called his disciples. But he was regarded with sus- 
picion by the authorities, who twice imprisoned him. 
He and his converts were ordered to resume the com- 
mon garb, and to cease to expound to the people the 
mysteries of religion.* Indignant at this, Ignatius 
immediately set out for Paris, where, in the beginning 
of 1528, he arrived alone, his companions having de- 
serted him. 

His persecutions at Alcala had taught him pru- 
dence ; so that, although his attempts at notoriety 
in Paris, in the way of dress, manners, and language, 
brought him before the tribunal of the Inquisition,! 
he nevertheless had managed matters so cautiously 
as to escape all punishment. Here, while contend- 
ing with the difficulties of the Latin grammar,^ he 

* Hel. Hist, des Ord. Mori., Eel. et Mil. tome vii. p. 463. 
+ Ibid, tome vii. p. 464. 

% Once for all, I promise my readers that I am not going to trouble 
them with the narrative of all the miraculous legends related concerning 
Loyola. They are in most instances so absurd as to be beneath the dignity 
of history. Let the two following suffice as specimens. It is said that 
the devil, determined to prevent his learning Latin, so confused his intel- 
lect that he found it impossible to remember the conjugation of the verb 
amo ; whereupon he scourged himself unmercifully every day, until by 



ORIGIN OF THE ORDER. 



23 



was ever revolving in his vast and capacious mind 
some new scheme for fulfilling his desires and gra- 
tifying his passion for renown. But as yet he knew 
not what he was destined to accomplish. There 
seems no ground for supposing that he could already 
have formed the gigantic and comprehensive pro- 
ject of establishing, on the basis on which it now 
stands, his wonderful and powerful Society. No; 
he only contrived, as he had done in Spain, to enlist 
some followers, over whom he could exercise an 
absolute control, for the furtherance of any future 
project. In this his success had far exceeded his 
expectations. The magnanimous and heroic Xavier, 
the intelligent and interesting Le Fevre, the learned 
Lainez, the noble and daring Rodriguez, and some 
three or four others, acknowledged him as their chief 
and master. 

It may at first sight appear strange that such pri- 
vileged intelligences should have submitted themselves 
to a comparatively ignorant ex-officer. But when it 
is borne in mind that Ignatius had a definite end, 
towards which he advanced with steady and unhesi- 
tating steps, whilst his companions had no fixed plan 
— that he was endowed with an iron will, which 
neither poverty, nor imprisonment, nor even the 
world's contempt, could overcome— that, above all, he 
had the art to flatter their respective passions, and 
to win their affections by using all his influence to 
promote their interests — it is less surprising that he 
should have gained an immense influence over those 
inexperienced and ingenuous young men, on whose 

that means the evil spirit was overcome, after which the saint was soon 
able to repeat amo in all its tenses. Again, when Ignatius was in 
Venice on his way to the Holy Land, it is said that a wealthy senator 
of that city, Travisini by name, whilst luxuriously reclining on his 
bed of down, was informed by an angel that the servant of God was 
lying upon the hard stones under the portico of his palace. Where- 
upon the senator immediately arose, and went to the door, where he 
found Ignatius. 



24 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



generous natures the idea of devoting their lives to 
the welfare of mankind had already made a deep 
impression. Loyola's courage and ambition were 
strongly stimulated by the acquisition of disciples so 
willing and devoted — so efficient for his purpose — so 
attached to his person ; and he began to consider 
how he might turn their devotion to the best ac- 
count. 

After some conferences with his companions, he 
assembled them all on the day of the Assumption, 
16th August 1534, in the church of the Abbey of 
Montmartre, where, after Peter Le Fevre had cele- 
brated mass, they each took a solemn vow to go to 
the Holy Land and preach the gospel to the infidels. 
Ignatius, satisfied for the present with these pledges, 
left Paris, in order, as he asserted, to recruit his 
health by breathing his native air at Loyola before 
setting out on his arduous mission, and doubtless also 
to find solitude and leisure in which to meditate 
and devise means for realising his ambitious hopes. 
His disciples remained in Paris to terminate their 
theological studies, and he commanded them to meet 
him again at Venice in the beginning of 1537, en- 
joining them, meanwhile, if any one should ask them 
what religion they professed, to answer that they be- 
longed to the Society of Jesus — since they were 
Christ's soldiers.* 

Our saint preceded them to Venice, where he 
again encountered some difficulties and a little perse- 
cution ; but he endured all with unflinching patience. 
Here he became acquainted with Pierre Caraffa (after- 
wards Pope Paul IV.) This harsh and remarkable man 
had renounced the bishopric of Theate, to become 
the companion of the meek and gentle Saint Gaje- 
tan of Tyenne, and with his assistance had founded 

* Negroni expounds the word societas " quasi dicas cohortem aut 
centuriam quee ad pugnam cum hostibus spiritualibus conserendam con- 
scripta est. ' 



ORIGIN OF THE ORDER. 



25 



the religious order of the Theatines. The members 
of this fraternity endeavoured, by exemplary living*, 
devotion to their clerical duties of preaching and 
administering the sacraments, and ministering to the 
sick, to correct the evils produced throughout all 
Christendom by the scandalous and immoral conduct 
of the regular and secular clergy. To Caraffa, who 
had already acquired great influence, Ignatius at- 
tached himself, became an inmate of the convent he 
had founded, served patiently and devotedly in the 
hospital which he directed, and shortly became Ca- 
raffa's intimate friend. This fixed at once the hitherto 
aimless ambition of Loyola. He conceived the idea of 
achieving power and fame, if not as the founder of a 
new order, at least as the remodeller of one already 
existing. With this design, he submitted to Caraffa a 
plan of reform for his order, and strongly urged its 
adoption. But Caraffa, who perhaps suspected his 
motive, rejected his proposal, and offered to admit 
him as a brother of the order as it stood. This, 
however, did not suit Ignatius, whose proud nature 
could never have submitted to play even the second 
part, much less that of an insignificant member in 
a society over which another had all power and au- 
thority. He therefore declined the honour, and at 
once determined to found a new religious community 
of his own. Aware, however, of the difficulties he 
might have to overcome, he resolved to proceed with 
the utmost caution. 

Being under a vow to go to convert the infidels in 
the Holy Land, he gave out that to this work alone 
were the lives of himself and his companions to be 
devoted. Accordingly, as soon as they arrived in 
Venice, he sent them to Rome to beg the Pope's bless- 
ing on their enterprise, as he said ; and also, no doubt, 
to exhibit them to the Roman court as the embryo of 
a new religious order. The reason assigned by his 



26 



HISTORY OF TEE JESUITS. 



historians for his not going to Rome along with them, 
is, that he feared that his presence there might be 
prejudicial to them.* It is just as likely that he was 
afraid lest, beneath his cloak of ostentatious humility, 
the discerning eye of Pope Paul might detect his un- 
bounded ambition. 

At Rome his disciples were favourably received ; — 
the Pontiff bestowed the desired benediction, and they 
returned to Venice, whence they were to sail for Pa- 
lestine. 

Here Ignatius prevailed upon them to take vows 
of perpetual chastity and poverty, and then, under 
pretext of the war which was raging at the time 
between the emperor and the Turks, they aban- 
doned their mission altogether. So ended their pious 
pilgrimage. 

Taking with him Lainez and Le Fevre, Loyola 
then proceeded to Rome, and craved audience of the 
Pope. 

The chair of St Peter was at this time occupied 
by Paul Farnese — that same Pope who opened, and 
in part conducted, the Council of Trent; who insti- 
gated the emperor to the war against the Protes- 
tants ; who sent, under his grandson's command, 
12,000 of his own troops into Germany to assist in 
that war; and who lifted up his sacrilegious hand to 
bless whoever would shed Protestant blood. He had 
been scandalously incontinent ; and if he did not, like 
Alexander VI., entirely sacrifice the interests of the 
Church and of humanity to the aggrandisement of his 
own family, nevertheless, his son received the duke- 
dom of Placentia, and his grandsons were created car- 
dinals at the age of fourteen, and one of them was 
intended to be Duke of Milan. However, Paul had 
some grandeur in his nature. He was generous, and 
therefore popular, and his activity was indefatigable. 
* Hel. Hist, des Ord. Mon., Rd. et Mil. tome p. 469. 



ORIGIN OF THE ORDER. 



27 



But Sarpi says of him, that of all his own qualities, 
he did not appreciate any nearly so much as his 
dissimulation* 

By this amiable pontiff, Ignatius and his compa- 
nions were kindly received. He praised their exem- 
plary and religious life, questioned them concerning 
their projects, but took no notice of the plan they 
hinted at, of originating a new religious order. 

But Loyola was not to be thus discouraged. He 
summoned to Rome all his followers (who had re- 
mained in Lombardy, preaching with a bigoted fana- 
ticism and calling the citizens to repentance), and gave 
them a clearer outline than he had hitherto done of 
the society he proposed to establish. This they en- 
tirely approved of, and took another vow (the most 
essential for Loyola's purpose) of implicit and un- 
questioning obedience to their superior. Admire 
here the cautious and consummate art by which 
Ignatius, step by step, brought his associates to the 
desired point. 

Notwithstanding the repeated refusals of the Court 
of Rome to accede to his wishes, neither the courage 
nor the perseverance of Ignatius failed him. After 
much reflection, he at last thought he had discovered 
a way to overcome the Pope's unwillingness. Consult- 
ing with his companions, he persuaded them to take a 
fourth vow, viz., one of obedience to the Holy See 
and to the Pope pro tempore, with the express obli- 
gation of going, without remuneration, to whatever 
part of the world it should please the Pope to send 
them. He then drew up a petition, in which were 
stated some of the principles and rules of the order he 
desired to establish, and sent it to the Pope by Car- 
dinal Contarini. 

This fourth vow made a great impression on the 
wily pontiff ; yet so great was his aversion to religious 
communities, some of which were just then the objects 
* Fra Paolo Sarpi, History of the Council of Trent, p. 118. 



28 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



of popular hatred and the plague of the Roman court, 
that he refused to approve of this new one until he 
had the advice of three cardinals, to whom he referred 
the matter. Guidiccioni, the most talented of the 
three, strenuously opposed it; but Paul, who per- 
haps had by this time penetrated the designs of Loyola, 
and perceived that the proposed Society could not 
prosper unless by contending for and maintaining the 
supremacy of the Holy See, thought it would be his 
best policy to accept the services of these volunteers, 
especially as it was a time when he much needed 
them. Consequently, on the 27th of September 
1540, he issued the famous bull, regimini militantis 
Ecclesice, approving of the new order under the name 
of " The Society of Jesus." We consider it indispen- 
sable to give some extracts from this bull. 

" Paul, Bishop, Servant of the Servants of God, for 
a perpetual record. Presiding by God's will over 
the Government of the Church, &c. . . . Whereas we 
have lately learned that our beloved son Ignatius de 
Loyola, and Peter Le Fevre, and James Lainez ; and 
also Claudius Le Jay, and Paschasius Brouet, and 
Francis Xavier ; and also Alphonso Salmeron and 
Simon Rodriguez, and John Coduri, and Nicolas de 
Bobadilia ; priests of the Cities, &c. . . . inspired, as 
is piously believed, by the Holy Ghost ; coming from 
various regions of the globe ; are met together, and 
become associates ; and, renouncing the seductions of 
this world, have dedicated their lives to the perpetual 
service of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of us, and of 
other our successors, Roman Pontiffs ; and expressly 
for the instruction of boys and other ignorant people 
in Christianity ; and, above all, for the spiritual con- 
solation of the faithful in Christ, by hearing- confes- 
sions; . . . We receive the associates under our protec- 
tion and that of the Apostolic See ; conceding to them, 
moreover, that some among them may freely and law- 
fully draw up such Constitutions as they shall judge to 



ORIGIN OF THE ORDER. 



29 



be conformable to, &c. . , . We will, moreover, that 
into this Society there be admitted to the number of 
sixty persons only, desirous of embracing this rule of 
living, and no more, and to be incorporated into the 
Society aforesaid." 

The above-named ten persons were the first com- 
panions of Loyola, and, with him, the founders of 
the Society. But the merit of framing the Constitu- 
tion which was to govern it belongs solely to Ignatius 
himself. He alone among them all was capable of 
such a conception. He alone could have devised a 
scheme by which one free rational being is converted 
into a mere automaton — acting, speaking, even think- 
ing, according to the expressed will of another. There 
is no record in history, of any man, be he king, em- 
peror, or pope, exercising such absolute and irrespon- 
sible power over his fellow-men as does the General 
of the Jesuits over his disciples. In the Spiritual 
Exercises Loyola appears to be merely an ascetic 
enthusiast; in the Constitution he shews himself a 
high genius, with a perfect and profound knowledge of 
human nature and of the natural sequence of events. 
Never was there put together a plan so admirably 
harmonious in all its parts, so wonderfully suited to 
its ends, or which has ever met with such prodigious 
success. 

Prompt, unhesitating obedience to the commands of 
the General, and (for the benefit of the Society, and 
ad majorem Dei gloriam) great elasticity in all other 
rules, according to the General's goodwill, are the chief 
features of this famous Constitution, which, as it con- 
stitutes the Jesuits' code of morality, we shall now 
proceed to examine, doing our best to shew the spirit 
in which it was dictated. 



so 



HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. 



CHAPTER II. 



1540-52. 

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE SOCIETY.* 

The times in which Ignatius wrote the Constitutions | 
were, for the Court of Rome and the Catholic religion, 
times of anxiety and danger. The Reformation was 
making rapid progress, and all Christendom, Catholic f 
as well as Protestant, resounded with the " Hundred 
Complaints 99 {Centum gravamina) brought forward 
at the Diet of Nuremberg against the Roman court 
— complaints and accusations which the wonderfully 
candid Adrian VI. acknowledged to be too well 
founded. This pontiff, by his nuncio, frankly declared 
to the Diet, u that all this confusion was originated | 
by men's sins, and, above all, by those of the clergy- 
men and prelates — that for many years past the 
Holy See had committed many abominations — that ! 
numerous abuses had crept into the administration of 
spiritual affairs, and many superfluities into the laws 
— that all had been perverted — and that the corrup- 
tion, descending from the head to the body, from the 
Sovereign Pontiff to the prelates, was so great, that 

* These famous Constitutions were composed by Loyola in the Spanish 
language. They were not at first the perfect system we now find them ; j 
and it was not till about the year 1552 that, after many alterations and 
improvements adapting them to the necessities of the times, they as- 
sumed their ultimate form. They were translated into Latin by the 
Jesuit Polancus, and printed in the college of the Society at Rome in 
1558. They were jealously kept secret, the greater part of the Jesuits 
themselves knowing only extracts IVom them. They were never produced 
to the light until 1761, when they were published by order of the French 
parliament, in the famous process of Father Lavalette. 

•j* We beg to explain the sense in which we use the word Catholic. 
We don't mean that the Christians of the Roman persuasion have an ^ ex- 
clusive right to it. We only maintain to them the current denomination, 
as all other historians do, to prevent confusion. 



CONSTITUTIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 



31 



there could hardly be found one who did good." * 
When a pope confessed so much to Protestant ears, it 
may well be imagined to what a degree of rottenness 
the moral leprosy must have arrived. 

But, besides this corruption, great confusion reigned 
throughout the Roman Catholic world. The different 
monastic orders were at war with one another. The 
bishops accused the Pope of tyranny ; the Pope de- 
nounced the bishops as disobedient. The mass of the 
people were deplorably ignorant, and general disorder 
prevailed. 

Now, mark with what admirable art, what pro- 
found sagacity, Ignatius modelled a society, which, 
by displaying the virtues directly opposed to the 
then prevailing vices, should captivate the affections 
and secure the support of the good and the pious, 
whilst, by underhand practices, and, above all, by 
shewing unusual indulgence in . the confessional, it 
should obtain an influence over the minds of the more 
worldly believers. 

In order that diversity of opinion and the free 
exercise of individual will should not produce division 
and confusion within this new Christian community, 
Loyola enacted that, in the whole Society, there 
should be no will, no opinion, but the General's. But, 
in order that the General might be enabled profitably 
to employ each individual member, as well as the 
collective energy and intelligence of the whole So- 
ciety, it was necessary that he should be thoroughly 
acquainted with his character, even to its smallest 
peculiarities. To insure this, Ignatius established 
special rules. Thus, regarding the admission of pos- 
tulants, he says — 

" Because it greatly concerns God's service to make 
a good selection, diligence must be used to ascertain 
the particulars of their person and calling ; and if the 
superior, who is to admit him into probation, cannot 

* History of the Council of Trent, by Paolo Sarpi, tome i. p. 47. 



32 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



make the inquiry, let him employ from among those 
who are constantly about his person some one whose 
assistance he may use, to become acquainted with the 
probationer — to live with him and examine him ; — 
some one endowed with prudence, and not unskilled in 
the manner which should be observed with so many 
various kinds and conditions of persons." * In other 
words, set a skilful and prudent spy over him, to 
surprise him into the betrayal of his most secret 
thoughts. Tet, even when this spy has given a tole- 
rably favourable report, the candidate is not yet 
admitted — he is sent to live in another house, " in 
order that he may be more thoroughly scrutinised, to 
know whether he is fitted to be admitted to pro- 
bation "\ When he is thought suited for the Society, 
he is received into the " house of first probation ; " 
and after a day or two, " he must open his conscience 
to the superior, and afterwards make a general con- 
fession to the confessor ivho shall be designed by 
the superior."! But this is not all, for — " in every 
house of probation there will be a skilful man to 
whom the candidate shall disclose all his concerns 
with confidence ; and let him be admonished to hide 
no temptation, but to disclose it to him, or to his 
confessor, or to the superior ; nay, to take a pleasure 
in thoroughly manifesting his whole soul to them, not 
only disclosing his defects, but even his penances, 
mortifications, and virtues." § When the candidate 
is admitted into any of their colleges, he must again 
" open his conscience to the rector of the college, 
whom he should greatly revere and venerate, as one 
who holds the place of Christ our Lord ; keeping 
nothing concealed from him, not even his conscience, 
which he should disclose to him (as it is set forth in 
the Examen) at the appointed season, and oftener, if 



* Const. Socie. Jesu, pars i. cap i. § 3. t Const, pars i. cap. iv. § 6. 
f Const, pars i. cap. ii. § 1. § Const, pars iii. cap. i. § 12. 



CONSTITUTIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 



33 



any cause require it ; not opposing, not contradicting, 
nor shewing an opinion, in any case, opposed to his 
opinion." * 

The information thus collected, regarding the tastes, 
habits, and inclinations" of every member, is communi- 
cated to the General, who notes it down in a book, 
alphabetically arranged, and kept for the purpose, in 
which also, as he receives twice a year a detailed re- 
port upon every member of the Society, he from time 
to time adds whatever seems necessary to complete 
each delineation of character, or to indicate the 
slightest change. Thus, the General knowing the 
past and present life, the thoughts, the desires of 
every one belonging to the Society, it is easy to 
understand how he is enabled always to select the 
fittest person for every special service. 

But this perfect knowledge of his subordinates' in- 
most natures would be of but little use to the General, 
had he not also an absolute and uncontrolled autho- 
rity over them. The Constitution has a provision 
for insuring this likewise. It declares that the can- 
didate " must regard the superior as Christ the 
Lord, and must strive to acquire perfect resignation 
and denial of his own will and judgment, in all things 
conforming his will and judgment to that which the 
superior wills and judges." f To the same purpose 
is the following : " As for holy obedience, this virtue 
must be perfect in every point — in execution, in will, 
in intellect; doing what is enjoined with all celerity, 
spiritual joy, and perseverance ; persuading ourself 
that everything is just ; suppressing every repugnant 
thought and judgment of one's own, in a certain obe- 
dience; and let every one persuade him- 
self that he who lives under obedience should be 
moved and directed, under Divine Providence, by his 
superior, just as if he were a corpse (perinde ac si 
cadaver esset) 9 which allows itself to be moved and 

* Const, pars iv. cap. x. § 5. + Const, pars iii. cap. i. § 23. 



34 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



led in any direction."* And so absolutely is this rule 
of submissive obedience enforced, that the Jesuit, in 
order to obey his General, must not scruple to disobey 
God. The warnings of conscience are to be sup- 
pressed as culpable weaknesses ; the fears of eternal 
punishment banished from the thoughts ,as supersti- 
tious fancies ; and the most heinous crimes, when 
committed by command of the General, are to be 
regarded as promoting the glory and praise of God. 

Head and consider the following blasphemy : — u ]STo 
constitution, declaration, or any order of living, can 
involve an obligation to commit sin, mortal or venial, 
unless the superior command it in the name of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, or in virtue of holy obedience; 
which shall be done in those cases or persons wherein 
it shall be judged that it will greatly conduce to the 
particular good of each, or to the general advantage ; 
'and, instead of the fear of offence, let the love and 
desire of all perfection succeed, that the greater 
glory and praise of Christ, our Creator and Lord, 
may follow !' 'f 

I shudder at the thought of all the atrocities which 
have been perpetrated at the order of this other " old 
man of the mountain," who presents to his agents the 
prospects of eternal bliss as the reward of their obe- 
dience. 

But this is not enough. Not content with having 
thus transferred the allegiance of the Jesuit from his 
God to his General, the Constitution proceeds to secure 
that allegiance from all conflict with the natural affec- 
tions or worldly interests. The Jesuit must concen- 
trate all his desires and affections upon the Society. 
He must renounce all that is dear to him in this life. 
The ties of family, the bonds of friendship, must be 
broken. His property must, within a year after his 
entrance into the Society, be disposed of at the bid- 
ding of the General ; " and he will accomplish a work 
* Const, pars vi. cap. i. § 1. t Const, pars vi. cap. v. § 1. 



CONSTITUTIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 



35 



of greater perfection if he dispose of it in benefit of 
the Society. And that his better example may shine 
before men, he must put away all strong affection 
for his parents, and refrain from the unsuitable desire 
of a bountiful distribution, arising from such disad- 
vantageous affection"* 

He must, besides, forego all intercourse with his 
fellow-men, either by word of mouth or by writing, f 
except such as his superior shall permit. " He shall 
not leave the house except at such times and with 
such companions as the superior shall allow. Nor 
within the house shall he converse, without restraint, 
with any one at his own pleasure, but with such only 
as shall be appointed by the superior."! Such was 
the strictness with which these rules were enforced, 
that Francis Borgia, Duke of Candia, afterwards one 
of the saints of the Society, was at first refused admit- 
tance into it, because he delayed the settlement of the 
affairs of his dukedom, and refused to renounce all 
intercourse with his family; and although, by a 
special rescript from the Pope, he was enrolled as a 
member, Ignatius for three years sternly denied him 
access to the house of the community, where he was 
not admitted till he had renounced all intercourse with 
the external world. 

But not only is all friendly communication forbidden 
to the Jesuit, but he is also placed under constant 
espionage. He is never permitted to walk about 
alone, but, whether in the house or out of doors, is 
always accompanied by two of his brethren.§ Each 

* Uxamen, iv. § 11 ; and Const, pars iii. cap. i. § 7-9. 

+ After his entrance into the house of first probation, the Jesuit is 
not allowed either to receive or send away any letter which has not 
been previously read by his superior. 

X Const, pars iii. cap. i. § 2, 3. 

§ Let not any English reader accuse me of inaccuracy on this point, 
upon the ground that Jesuits actually walk about the streets in this 
country singly, or even in disguise. They must take notice that every 
rule of the Constitution contains this clause — "Except the General 
order otherwise, for the greater glory of Grod, and the benefit of the 



36 



EISTOEY OF THE JESUITS. 



one of this party of three acts, in fact, as a spy upon 
his two companions. Wot, indeed, that he has special 
instructions from his superior to do so, but, knowing 
that they, as well as himself, have been taught that 
it is their duty to inform the General of every suspici- 
ous or peculiar expression uttered in their hearing, he 
is under constant fear of punishment, should either of 
them report anything regarding the other which he 
omits to report likewise. Hence it is very seldom 
that a Jesuit refrains from denouncing his companion. 
If he does not do so at once, his sinful neglect becomes 
revealed in the confessional, to the special confessor 
appointed by the superior. 

Then, in order that these members, so submissive in 
action to their General, should not differ in opinion 
among themselves and so occasion scandal in the 
Catholic world, and to oppose an uniformity of doc- 
trine to that of me free examen of the Protestants, 
the Constitution decrees as follows : — " Let all think, 
let all speak, as far as possible, the same thing, accord- 
ing to the apostle. Let no contradictory doctrines, 
therefore, be allowed, either by word of mouth, or 
public sermons, or in written books, which last shall 
not be published without the approbation and the 
consent of the General; and, indeed, all difference 
of opinion regarding practical matters should be 
avoided.' 7 * Thus, no one but the General can exercise 
the right of uttering a single original thought or 
opinion. It is almost impossible to conceive the 
power, especially in former times, of a General having 
at his absolute disposal such an amount of intelli- 
gences, wills, and energies. 

Society." Is it not " for the greater glory of God, and the benefit of 
the Society/' that the Jesuit, to escape suspicion, should go alone] — 
that he should be introduced into your family circle as a Protestant 
gentleman ] — that he should, to gain your unsuspecting confidence, enact 
the part of your gay companion at theatres-, concerts, and balls ? — that 
he should converse with you upon religious matters, beginning always 
by cursing the Pope, &c. 1 
* Const, pars iii. cap. i, § 18. 



CONSTITUTIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 



37 



Now, it must not be imagined that all, willing 
implicitly to obey the behests of the superior, are 
indiscriminately admitted into the Society. Such, 
indeed, is the case with all other monastic orders (I 
speak more particularly of Italy and Spain). Vaga- 
bonds, thieves, and ruffians, often became members of 
those communities, in whose convents they had found 
an asylum against the police and the hangman. Igna- 
tius wisely guarded his Society from this abuse. Its 
members must be chosen, if possible, from among 
the best. The wealthy and the noble are the fittest 
for admission; although these qualifications are not 
essential, and the want of them may be supplied by 
some extraordinary natural gift or acquired talent.* 
Besides this, the candidate must possess a comely 
presence, youth, health, strength, facility of speech, 
and steadiness of purpose. To have ever been a 
heretic or schismatic, to have been guilty of homicide 
or any heinous crime, to have belonged to another 
order, to be under the bond of matrimony, or not to 
have a strong and sound mind, are insurmountable 
obstacles to admission. Ungovernable passions, habit 
of sinning, unsteadiness and fickleness of mind, luke- 
warm devotion, want of learning and of ability to 
acquire it, a dull memory, bodily defects, debility and 
disease, and advanced age — any of these imperfections 
render the postulant less acceptable;! and, to gain 
admission, he must exhibit some very useful compen- 
sating qualities. It is evident that persons so carefully 
selected are never likely to disgrace the Society by 
any gross misbehaviour, and will perform with pru- 
dence and success any temporal or worldly service they 
may be put to by the General. I say worldly ser- 
vice, because I should suppose that it must matter 
very little for the service of God should the servant 
be lame or of an " uncomely presence" 

* Const, pars i. cap. ii. § 13. + Ibid, pars i. cap. iii. § 3-16. 

. B 



38 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



But in no part of the Constitution do Loyola's 
genius and penetration shine so conspicuously as in 
the rules regarding the vow of poverty, and the 
gratuitous performance of the duties of the sacred 
ministry. The discredit and hatred which weighed 
upon the clergy and the monastic orders was in great 
part due to the ostentatious display of their accumu- 
lated wealth, and to the venality of their sacred 
ministry. To guard against this evil, Ignatius or- 
dained that "poverty should be loved and maintained 
as the firmest bulwark of religion" The Jesuit was 
forbidden to possess any property, either by inheri- 
tance or otherwise. He was required to live in an 
inexpensive house, to dress plainly, and avoid all 
appearance of being wealthy. The churches and reli- 
gious houses of the order were to be without endow- 
ments. The colleges alone were permitted to accept 
legacies or donations for the maintenance of students 
and professors. No limit was assigned to these gifts, 
the management of which was intrusted entirely to the 
General, with power to appoint rectors and admini- 
strators under him. These functionaries, generally 
chosen from among the coadjutors and very rarely 
from the professed Society, although debarred by 
their vow of perpetual poverty from the possession of 
the smallest amount of property, are yet, by this 
ingenious trick, enabled to hold and administer the 
entire wealth of the Society. We shall afterwards 
see, and especially in the famous process of Lavallette, 
in what a large sense they understand the word ad- 
minister. So much for the display of wealth. With 
respect to the venality of the sacred ministry, they 
declared that " no Jesuit shall demand or receive pay, 
or alms, or remuneration, for mass, confessions, ser- 
mons, lessons, visitations, or any other duty which the 
Society is obliged to render ; and, to avoid even the 
appearance of covetousness, especially in offices of 
piety which the Society discharges for the succour of 



CONSTITUTIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 3& 

souls, let there be no box in the church, into which 
alms are generally put by those who go thither to 
mass, sermon, confession," &c* Thus the Jesuit 
refuses to accept a few paltry sixpences for performing 
mass, or a fee of some shillings per quarter for teach- 
ing boys. He disdains to appear mercenary. He 
would much rather be poor. He looks for no reward. 
Yet, those little boys whom he instructs gratuitously, 
and with such affectionate tenderness that he cannot 
bring himself to chastise them, but must have the 
painful though necessary duty performed by some 
one not belonging to the Society ;f — these boys, I 
say, will become men, many of them religious bigots, 
strongly attached to their kind preceptors, to whom 
they will then pay the debt of gratitude incurred in 
their youth. 

Alas for such gratitude ! How many families have 
had cause to deplore it ! How many children have 
been reduced to beggary by it ! How many ancient 
and noble houses has it precipitated from the height 
of affluence and splendour into the depth of poverty 
and wretchedness ! Who can number the crimes 
committed in the madness of despair occasioned by 
the loss of the family inheritance ? That the parent 
may suffer a few years less of purgatory, the child 
has been too often condemned to misery in this life, 
and perhaps to eternal punishment in the next. But 
all this is of no consequence. The man who has 
been led thus to disregard one of his most sacred 
parental duties, in order to found a Jesuits' college 
or endow a professorship, will be saved, because they 
promise him — " In every college of our Society, let 
masses be celebrated once a week for ever, for its 
founder and benefactor, whether dead or alive. At 
the beginning of every month, all the priests who are 
in the college ought to offer the same sacrifice for 
them ; and a solemn mass, with a commemorative 

* Const, pars v. cap. ii. § 7, 8. + Ibid, pars iv. cap. xvi. § 3, 



40 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



feast, shall be celebrated on the anniversary of the 
donation, and a wax candle offered to the donor or 
his descendants." Besides this, " the donor shall have 
three masses while alive, and three masses after his 
death, by all the priests of the Society, with the 
prayers of all its members ; so that he is made par- 
taker of all the good works which are done, by the 
grace of God, not only in the college which he has 
endowed, but in the whole Society." * 

By such allurements do these crafty priests, with 
diabolical cunning, snatch princely fortunes from the 
credulous and superstitious believers. And so assi- 
duous and successful were they even at the very 
beginning, that, only thirteen years after the estab- 
lishment of the order, during Loyola's lifetime, they 
already possessed upwards of a hundred colleges very 
largely and richly endowed. 

Now, let not my Protestant readers wonder how 
sensible men can be induced, by such ephemeral and 
ill-founded hopes, to disinherit their families in order 
to enrich these hypocritical monks. They must re- 
member that the Romish believer views these matters 
in quite a different light from that in which they see 
them. Masses and prayers are, in his belief, not only 
useful, but indispensable. For lack of them he would 
writhe for centuries amid the tormenting fires of 
purgatory, the purifying pains of which are described 
by his priest, with appalling eloquence, as being far 
more excruciating than those of hell. According to 
the doctrine of his Church, every soul (one in a 
million only excepted) who is not eternally damned, 
must, ere it enter heaven, pass a certain time in this 
abode of torture for the expiation of its sins. And 
let him not take comfort from the fact that his con- 
science does not reproach him with the commission 
of any heinous crime. The catalogue of sins by which 
he may be shut out from eternal blessedness is made 

* Const, pars iv. cap. i. § 1, 6. 



CONSTITUTIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 



41 



artfully long, and detailed with great minuteness. 
The most upright and pious of men must condemn 
himself as a presumptuous sinner if he for an instant 
harbours the hope of escaping the purifying fire. So 
he becomes quite resigned to his fate, and all his care 
in this life is, how to appease the Divine anger, and 
shorten the period of his exclusion from heaven. This 
he is taught to do — not by trusting to the righteous- 
ness of Jesus Christ, with the true repentance which 
manifests itself through a holy life, but by accumulating 
on his head hundreds of masses and millions of days of 
indulgence. Hence the innumerable masses and prayers 
which he sends before him during his life, as if to 
forestall his future punishment, and bribe the Divine 
justice. And when the terrible moment arrives — that 
moment in which he is about to appear before the awful 
Judge, beneath whose searching eye his most secret 
thoughts lie bare — when, trembling at the strict ac- 
count that is about to be demanded of him, his fears 
represent to his excited imagination the most trifling 
shortcomings as mortal sins — when, with the decline of 
bodily strength, his enfeebled mind becomes more easily 
worked upon — then does his Jesuit confessor, his gene- 
rous master, his kind, disinterested friend, come to give 
him the last proof of his ever-growing affection. He 
seats himself at his bedside, and, serpent-like, under 
pretence of inducing him to repent of his sins, he 
draws him a fearful and impressive picture of the tor- 
ments which await the damned. He descants to him 
with oily sanctity upon the enormity of offending 
the Divine Saviour, who shed his precious blood to 
redeem us. He terrifies him with the Almighty's im- 
placable vengeance ; and when his victim, choked with 
heart-rending agony, distracted, despairing of his ulti- 
mate salvation, is ready to curse God, and set his power 
and anger at defiance — then, and not till then, does the 
Jesuit relent. Now he raises in the sufferer's heart 
the faintest hope that the Divine justice may possibly 



12 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



be disarmed, and mercy obtained by means of masses 
and indulgences. The exhausted man, who feels as if 
he were already plunged amid the boiling sulphur and 
devouring flames, grasps with frantic eagerness at this 
anchor of salvation ; and, did he possess tenfold more 
wealth than he does, he would willingly give it all up 
to save his soul. It may be that his heart, yearning 
with paternal affection, shrinks at the thought of con- 
demning his helpless ones to beggary ; but neverthe- 
less, as if the welfare of his family were necessarily 
connected with his own perdition, and that of the 
Jesuits with eternal beatitude, the family is invariably 
sacrificed to the Jesuits. 

It is notorious that the most diabolical tricks have 
been resorted to in the case of dying men whose 
better judgment and natural sense of duty have with- 
stood such perfidious wiles. 

Alas! the punishment of such criminal obstinacy 
was always near at hand ; the sick-chamber has been 
suddenly filled with flames and sulphureous vapour as 
a warning to the impenitent sinner. And if he still 
resisted, the Evil Spirit himself, in his most frightful 
shape, has appeared to the dying man, as if waiting 
for his soul. Ah! — one's hair stands on end while 
listening to such sacrilegious manoeuvres. The 
immense wealth of the Jesuits has been bequeathed to 
them by wills made at the last hour ! 

In order that all classes of Jesuits may better attend 
to their peculiar occupations, Ignatius relieved them 
from the obligation, incumbent on all other religious 
communities, of performing the Church service at the 
canonical hours. 

Jesuits of every class may be expelled from the 
order, either by the general congregation or by the 
all-powerful General. In such cases, however, it is 
enacted, that great care be taken to keep secret the 
deeds or crimes which necessitate the dismissal, in 



CONSTITUTIONS OF THE SOCETY. 



43 



order that the ex-Jesuit may suffer the least possible 
disgrace ; also, that he shall be assisted by the prayers 
of the community, together with something more sub- 
stantial, to the end that he may harbour no resent- 
ment against the order.* 

No Jesuit, without the consent of the General, is 
allowed to accept any ecclesiastical dignity or benefice ; 
and the General is required to refuse such consent, 
unless the Pope command him in the name of holy 
obedience to grant it. By this rule Ignatius designed 
to avoid exciting the animosity and jealousy of the 
other monastic orders, and of the clergy in general. 
Besides, Ignatius knew well that any ecclesiastical 
dignity would confer lustre and power on the indivi- 
dual, but be detrimental to the order. A bishop or 
a, cardinal would be less disposed than a poor priest, 
to obey the General, and to work for the Society. 
He himself most rigidly enforced it, and would permit 
neither Lainez nor Borgia to receive the cardinal's 
hat, which the Pope offered them. Since his time, 
the Jesuits have very seldom broken this rule, and that 
most often only to undertake some bishopric in far 
distant countries where no one else would desire to go. 

The dress of the Jesuits consists of a long black 
vest and cloak, and of a low- crowned broad-brimmed 
hat, all of the greatest simplicity, and of good but 
common material. In their houses and colleges there 
reigns the most perfect order, the most exemplary 
propriety. The banqueting, revelling, and licence 
which so disgrace the establishments of the other 
monastic orders, are strictly prohibited.! They are 

* Const, pars ii. cap. iii. § 5, 6, 8. 

=f In most monasteries., and more particularly in those of the Capuchins 
and Reformed (Riformati), there begins at Christmas a series of 
feasts, which continues till Lent. All sorts of games are played Che 
most splendid, banquets are given, and in the small towns, above all, 
the refectory of the convent is the best place of amusement for the 
greater number of the inhabitants. At carnivals, two or three very 
magnificent entertainments take place, the board so profusely spread 
that one might imagine that Copia bad here poured forth the whole 



44 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



very frugal in their habits, and prudently avoid all 
display of wealth. It is said that the General occasion- 
ally relaxes the rules in favour of some of the most 
trusty of the professed and coadjutors, in order 
that, disguised as laymen, they may enjoy a few 
holidays as they please, in some distant place where 
they are not known. 

We shall now proceed to examine that part of the 
Constitutions which concerns, the hierarchy. Our 
readers must always bear in mind what we have 
already said, that the Constitutions were not finished till 
the year 1552, and it may perhaps be that some rules 
were added even after. The Society at first consisted 
only of professed members, and of scholastics or scholars, 
a sort of Jesuit aspirants who were trained up for the 
Society, into which they were admitted or not, accord- 
ing to the proofs which they had given of their fitness. 
In the year 1546, Paul III. approved of the introduc- 
tion of the class of the Coadjutors, and in the year 
1552 was erected it Lisbon the first house for the 
novices. We may further observe that, under the 
first three Generals, those Constitutions were scrupu- 
lously observed. And those were the heroic times of 
the Society. But from that moment, internal discord 
at first, and afterwards the more worldly and political 
character assumed by the Society, were its ruin, and 
the cause of its suppression as well as of its re- 
establishment. But let us not anticipate events. 

contents of her horn. It must be remembered that these two orders 
live by alms. The sombre silence of the cloister is replaced by a 
confused sound of merrymaking, and its gloomy vaults now echo with 
other songs than those of the Psalmist. A ball enlivens and terminates 
the feast ; and, to render it still more animated, and perhaps to shew 
how completely their vow of chastity has eradicated all their carnal 
appetite, some of the young monks appear coquettishly dressed in the 
garb of the fair sex, and begin the dance along with others transformed 
into gay cavaliers. To describe the scandalous scene which ensues 
would be but to disgust my readers. I will only say that I have myself 
often been a spectator at such saturnalia. 



HIERARCHY. 



45 



CHAPTER III. 

1540-53. 
HIERARCHY, 

The government of the Company of Jesus is purely 
monarchical, and the General is its absolute and un-u 
controllable king. 

The members of the Society are divided into fbut^ 
classes, — the Professed, Coadjutors, Scholars, and JNo-t 
vices. There is also a secret fifth class, known only to 
the General and a few faithful Jesuits, which, perhaps 
more than any other, contributes to the dreaded and 
mysterious power of the order. It is composed of lay- 
men of all ranks, from the minister to the humble 
shoe-boy. Among the individuals composing this 
class are to be found many ladies, who, unknown and 
unsuspected, are more dangerous in themselves, and 
more accurate spies to the Company. These are 
affiliated to the Society, but not bound by any vows. 
The Society, as a noble and avowed reward, promises 
to them forgiveness for all their sins, and eternal bless- 
edness, and, as a more palpable mark of gratitude, 
protects them, patronises them, and, in countries where 
the Jesuits are powerful, procures for them comfort- 
able and lucrative places under government, or else- 
where. If this is not sufficient, they are paid for their 
services in hard cash, according to an article of the Con- 
stitution, which empowers the General to spend money 
on persons who will make themselves useful. In re- 
turn for these favours, they act as the spies of the 
order, the reporters of what goes on in those classes of 



46 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



society with which the Jesuit cannot mix, and serve, 
often unwittingly, as the tools and accomplices in 
dark and mysterious crimes. Father Francis Pellico, 
brother to the famous Silvio, in his recent quarrel 
with the celebrated Gioberti, to prove that the order 
is not so very deficient of supporters as his opponent 
asserts, candidly confesses that " the many illustrious 
friends of the Society, prelates, orators, learned and 
distinguished men of every description, the supporters 
of the Society, remain occult, and obliged to be silent"* 
This avowal, coming from the mouth of a Jesuit, must 
be specially noted. Now, reversing the order of the 
classes, we shall begin by describing 

I. THE NOVICES. 

We have already seen the process a candidate must 
go through before being admitted into the House of 
First Probation. After undergoing a still more search- 
ing scrutiny there, he passes to the House of Noviciate. 
The noviciate lasts two years, and may be shortened 
for prolonged at the General's pleasure. There are 
six principal exercises by which the Novice is tried ; 
they are as follows : — 

" 1. The Novices are to devote a month to the 
spiritual exercises, self-examination, confession of sins, 
and meditation, and to a contemplation of the life, 
death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. 

" 2. They are to serve for another month in one or 
more of the hospitals, by ministering to the sick, in 
proof of increasing humility and entire renunciation of 
the pomps and vanities of the world. 

" 3. They must wander during a third month with- 
out money, begging from door to door, that they may 
be accustomed to inconvenience in eating and sleeping, 
or else they may serve in an hospital for another month, 
at the discretion of the Superior. 

* A Vincenzo Gioberti Fra Pellico della Compagnia di Gesu, pp. 35. 36. 



HIERARCHY. 



47 



" 4. They must submit to be employed in the most 
servile offices of the house into which they have en- 
tered, for the sake of shewing a good example in all 
things. 

" 5. They are to give instruction in Christian learn- 
ing to boys, or to their untaught elders, either publicly-, 
privately, or as occasion may be offered. 

" 6. When sufficient proof has been given of im- 
provement in probation, the Novice may proceed to 
preach, to hear confessions, or to any exercise in which 
circumstances may direct him to engage."* 

" While a Jesuit is thus fulfilling the several trials 
of his fitness, he may not presume to say that he is 
one of the Society.f He must only describe himself 
as wishing to be admitted into it ; indifferent to the 
station which may be assigned to him, and waiting in 
patient expectation until it be determined how his 
services may be most advantageously employed." 

At the expiry of the biennium, if he has gone 
through all his trials satisfactorily, he takes the vows, 
of which the following is the formula : — 

" Almighty, everlasting God, I, N., albeit every 
way most unworthy in Thy holy sight, yet relying on 
Thine infinite pity and compassion, and impelled by 
the desire of serving Thee, in the presence of the most 
holy Virgin Mary, and before all Thine heavenly host, 
vow to Thy divine Majesty perpetual poverty, chastity, 
and obedience in the Society of Jesus, and promise 
that I will enter the same Society, to live in it 
perpetually, understanding all things according to 
the Constitutions of the Society. Of Thy boundless 
goodness and mercy, through the blood of Jesus Christ, 
I humbly pray that Thou wilt deign to accept this 
sacrifice in the odour of sweetness, and, as Thou hast 
granted Thine abundant grace to desire and offer, so 
Thou wilt enable me to fulfil the same. At Rome, or 
elsewhere, in such a place, day, month, and year." 
* Exarnen, iv. § 10-15. + Examen, iv. § 17. 



48- 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



" Then shall they take, as the others, the most holy 
body of Christ, and the rest of the ceremony shall 
proceed as before."* 

After the Novice has taken the tows, he must 
remain in an undeterminate state until the General 
has decided in what capacity he can best serve the 
Society. To this he must be wholly indifferent, and 
on no account endeavour to obtain, either directly or 
indirectly, any particular employment, but must await 
in silence the General's decision. 

Those are the written precepts ; but the sly and 
abominable acts to which the Jesuits resort in or- 
der to model the man to the standard of the Society, 
are numerous, and differ according to circumstances 
and to the character of the Novice. But, in all cases, 
before the biennium is elapsed, either the man is dis- 
missed, or he has lost all ideas, all hopes, all desires 
of a personal nature ; he is a man without will, sub- 
mitting blindly to obey any order, and devoting soul 
and body to the aggrandizement of the Society. 



II. THE SCHOLARS. 

To promote the objects of their Society, the Jesuits 
rely in a great measure upon the talent and learning 
of its members. Hence their decided preference for 
candidates with superior mental endowments, and their 
assiduous attention to the prosperity and good manage- 
ment ot their colleges and universities, which were at 
one time the best regulated and most efficient in 
Europe. Their judicious arrangement of the studies, 
their admirable superintendence, their exemplary dis- 
cipline, their many inducements to application, ren- 
dered the Jesuit colleges the resort of all those who 
aspired to eminence in the literary or learned world. 
The greatest men in all the Catholic countries of 

* Const, Pars v. cap. iv. § 4. 



HIERARCHY. 



49 



Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centu- 
ries were educated by the Jesuits. 

All the property bequeathed or given to the So- 
ciety is made over to the colleges and universities, 
which, however, have not the power of administering 
it. In these colleges are trained the Scholars, of 
whom there are two sorts — the Received and the 
Approved. The former are candidates for member- 
ship, who are being tried for their skill in learning 
previous to entering upon the noviciate ; the latter are 
those who have completed their noviciate, and taken 
the vows. Every Novice and Scholar aspires to enter, 
the class of the Coadjutors, or that of the Professed, 
in which two classes reside all the power and authority 
of the order. The vows of the Scholars are the same 
as those of the Novices. 

III. COADJUTORS. 

The third class of Jesuits consists of Temporal and 
Spiritual Coadjutors. The Temporal Coadjutors, how- j 
ever learned they may be, are never admitted to holy 
orders. They are the porters, cooks, stewards, and 
agents of the Society. The Spiritual Coadjutors are 
priests, and must be men of considerable learning, in 
order that they may be qualified to hear confessions, 
to teach, preach, &c. The rectors of the colleges, 
and the superiors of the religious houses, are appointed 
from this class. They are sometimes permitted to assist 
in the deliberations of the general congregation, but 
have no voice in the election of the General. 

Besides undergoing the first probation, and the 
noviciate, the Coadjutors must submit to a third year 
of trial, in order to afford a stronger proof of their 
aptitude. It is here worthy of remark, that in the 
case of a porter or a cook, there is required a year 
of trial more than is thought necessary to qualify 
the scholar who is to preach, and teach the Catechism. 



50 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



The porters and cooks must know something of worldly- 
business, and, consequently, there is the greater need 
that they should be faithful and trustworthy. Here 
is the formula of the vow taken by the Coadjutors : — ■ 
" I, N., promise Almighty God, before His Virgin 
Mother, and before all the heavenly host, and you, 
reverend father^ General of the Society of Jesus, 
holding the place of God, and of your successors ; or 
you, reverend father, Vice-General of the Society of 
Jesus, and of his successors, holding the place of God, 
perpetual poverty, chastity, and obedience, and therein, 
peculiar care in the education of boys, according to 
the manner expressed in the Apostolical Letters, and 
in the Constitutions of the said Society. At Rome, or 
elsewhere, in such a place, day, month, and year. 

" Then let him take the most holy body of Christ ; 
and let the rest of the ceremony be the same as in the 
case of the Professed."* The clause, "peculiar care 
in the education of boys," is omitted in the vow when 
taken by the Temporal Coadjutors. 

IV. THE PROFESSED. 

This fourth class, the first in order of power and 
dignity, may be said to constitute, alone, the Society. 
The probation required for it is longer and more 
rigorous than that of any of the other classes. Two 
additional years of trial must be endured, in order 
to gain admission into it. This is partly to prevent 
the class becoming too numerous. The Professed 
must, in terms of the Constitutions, be priests, above 
twenty-five years of age, eminent in learning and 
virtue. In addition to their acquirements in lite- 
rature and philosophy, they must devote four years 
specially to the study of theology. Their admission 
is the immediate act of the General, who seldom de- 
legates his power for that purpose, as he generally 

* Const. Pars v. cap. iv. § 2. 



HIERARCHY. 



51 



does for admitting to the other classes. Solemn vows 
are taken by this class only ; those of the other 
classes are designated merely as simple vows. Be- 
sides the three ordinary vows of poverty, chastity, and , 
obedience, the Professed take a fourth — to obey the I 
Holy See, and to go, as missionaries, into whatever ( 
part of the world the Pope pro tempore chooses to send 1 
them. My readers will remember, that it was this 
fourth vow which overcame the crafty Pope Paul's ob- 
jections to sanction the order. But this pontiff, with 
all his cunning, was no match for Loyola, who quite 
nullified this vow by the formula in which he embodied 
it. According to this formula, the vow is made only 
in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution. Now, 
the Constitution enacts, " that the General shall have 
all power over every individual of the Society, to send 
any one on a mission, to recal missionaries, and to 
proceed in all things as he thinks will be best for the 
greater glory of God." * Thus, obedience to the Pope 
depends entirely on the will and pleasure of the Ge- 
neral. Hence the General's preponderating influence 
with the Court of Rome. 

The ceremony of taking the vows of the Professed 
is more solemn than that of the others. It must take 
place in the church, which with the others is not im- 
perative. " First of all, the General, or some one 
empowered by him to admit to Profession, when he 
has offered the sacrifice of the public Mass in the 
church, before inmates and others there present, shall 
turn to the person who is about to make profession 
with the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist ; and 
he, after the general confession and the words which 
are used before the communion, shall, with a loud 
voice, pronounce his written vow (which it is meet that 
he should have meditated on for several days), whereof 
this is the form : — 

" I, N., make profession, and promise Almighty 
* Const Pars ix. cap. iii. § 9. 



52 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. - — _ 

God, before His Virgin Mother, and before all the 
heavenly host, and before all bystanders, and you, 
reverend father, General of the Society of Jesus, hold- 
ing the place of God, and your successors ; or you, 
reverend father, Vice-General of the Society of Jesus, 
and of his successors, holding the place of God, per- 
petual poverty, chastity, and obedience, and therein 
peculiar care in the education of boys, according to 
the form of living contained in the Apostolic Letters 
of the Society of Jesus, and in its Constitutions. More- 
over, I promise special obedience to the Pope in mis- 
sions, as is contained in the same Apostolic Letters and 
Constitutions. At Rome or elsewhere, on such a day, 
month, and year, and in such a church. 

" After this, let him take the most holy sacrament 
of the Eucharist. Which being done, the name of 
him who makes profession shall be written in a book 
which the Society shall keep for that purpose ; the 
name of the person to whom he made it — the day, 
month, and year, being also set down ; and his written 
vows shall be preserved, that an account of all the par- 
ticulars may appear for ever, to the glory of God."* 

It is this class, and that of the Coadjutors, who are 
wont to live by alms, and who, for appearance ' sake, 
sometimes go begging from door to door — (this is the 
case in Italy, at least). But, either from pride or 
roguery, they never ask, in our day, anything in 
their own name, but always in the name of the poor, 
the hospitals, and the prisoners, and thus they win 
for their order the veneration of the credulous and the 
ignorant. 

To the Professed alone are confided the missions, 
and the management of the more important affairs of 
the order, into the secrets of which they are admitted 
farther than any other class. Hence they were never, 
except in urgent cases, to be appointed rectors of 
colleges, or superiors of the House of Probation. It 

* Const. Pars v. cap. iii. § 2-4. 



HIERARCHY 



53 



was the strict observance of this rule which, perhaps 
more than anything else, contributed to the ruin of 
the order. 

The General, as we have already said, is at the 
head of the hierarchy, the absolute master of persons 
and things. He is elected for life, by a General Con- 
gregation of the Society, the decision requiring a 
majority of votes, and the observance of certain 
rules. But sometimes, when " elected by general in- 
spiration, those rules may be dispensed with/' for 
the Holy Ghost, who inspires such an election, sup- 
plies the want of every form of election.* To this 
Congregation there are convened two Jesuits of 
the Professed class residing in Rome, all the Pro-/ 
vincials, and also two Professed members chosen in; 
every province by a Provincial Congregation. The 
formalities of the election are very much the same as 
those observed in the election of the Pope.f After 
attending mass, the electors are confined in an apart- 
ment, where they cannot communicate with any one 
from without ; and, to compel them to decide within a 
reasonable time, they are allowed no better aliment 
than bread and water until a General is chosen. 
When this fortunate occurrence takes place, and the 
new General is proclaimed, every one present must 
come forward to do him reverence, and, kneeling on 
both knees, kiss his hand.J The same Congregation 
which elects the General appoints also four assist-; 
ants, to reside near him in Rome. At the period 
when the Constitution was ultimately defined, toward 
1552, the Jesuits had divided the world into four 
provinces, viz. India, Spain and Portugal, Germany 
and France, and Italy and Sicily, Each of the four 
assistants attend separately to the affairs of one of 
these four provinces, and all of them together, when 

* Const. Pars ix. cap. v. § 5. 

+ See my History of the Pontificate of P ids IX., p. 3. 
X Const, Pars viii. cap. vi. § 6. 

E 



54 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 

required, assist the General in the general business of 
the Society. At the same Congregation there is also 
appointed a pious man as admonitor to the General, 
whose duty is to be near the General, to watch him, 
and, " should he perceive him swerving from the right 
path, with all possible humility to advise him, after 
earnest and devout prayer to God, what he considers 
to be the best course to follow." 

In the event of the death or prolonged absence of 
any of these officials, the General may appoint some \ 
one to the vacant post, provided his choice be ap- j 
proved by the majority of the Provincials. All these 
officials are given to the General by the Constitution, 
partly to assist him in the fulfilment of his duties, 
and partly to be constant and keen surveyors of his 
conduct. " And should the General sin in copula 
carnalis, wounding any one, applying to his own use 
or giving away any of the revenues of the colleges, 
or holding depraved doctrines, as soon as the charge 
is proved by adequate evidence, the four assistants 
immediately call forth the General Congregation." * 
However, with the exception of alienating any real 
property of the colleges, the General has full and 
unlimited power, even to the granting of a dispensa- 
tion for any of the rules of the Constitution. He ap- 
points and disposes of all the subaltern officials of the 
Society, and receives into it, or dismisses from it, any 
person whom he pleases, and that at any time he may 
choose. He buys or exchanges property for the order 
by his own authority, and has the superintendence of 
its whole administration. . - 

The Provincials send him, once a year, an elaborate 
and detailed account of every member of the order, 
the correctness of which is ascertained by private in- 
vestigation through different and opposite sources, 
because (as is thought) he does not place implicit con- 
fidence even in them. The Constitutions say- — " The 
* Const. Pars ix. cap. iv. § 7. 



HIERARCHY. 



55 



General scrutinises as far as possible the character of 
those who are under his control, and especially Pro- 
vincials, and others to whom he intrusts matters of 
importance." * 

V. THE PROVINCIALS. 

The Provincials are elected by the General from 
the class of the Professed. They are appointed for 
three years, but may be confirmed or dismissed at the 
General's will. The importance of the province over 
which he is set depends upon the number of houses 
or colleges established within its bounds. The Rec- 
tors, Administrators, or local Superiors, write to the 
Provincials monthly a full and correct account of the 
inclinations, opinions, defects, propensities, and cha- 
racters of every individual under their charge. Con- 
fidential persons, and especially Confessors, are of 
great assistance to them in the drawing up of their 
reports, from which the Provincials extract theirs, 
which are yearly sent to the General. 



VI. RECTORS, SUPERIORS, AND ADMINISTRATORS. 

The Rectors are intrusted with the superintendence 1 
of the colleges. The General chooses them from the/ 
class of the Spiritual Coadjutors, but appoints them 
for no determinate period, which leaves him at liberty 
to dismiss them whenever he pleases. 

The Superiors, elected from the same class and by 
the same authority, have the oversight of the Houses 
of the First and Second Probation. Each of these 
officials, Superior, Rector, and Provincial, has in his 
respective sphere as absolute a power over his subor- \ 
dinates as the General has over any member of the 
Society. 

The Administrators are chosen by the General from f 

* Const. Pars. ix. cap. iii. § 14-19. 



56 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



the Temporal Coadjutors under his control. They 
have the entire management of the temporal concerns 
both of houses and colleges. 

The Rectors and Superiors are forbidden to have 
anything to do with any temporal matter whatever; 
because it forms a conspicuous part of the admirable 
Jesuitical system, to have prescribed for every class 
, of Jesuits its particular duties, from which it is not to 
be diverted by any occupation whatever. This has 
largely contributed to the aggrandisement and suc- 
cess of the Society, as long as the rules were ob- 
served. 

All these functionaries have subaltern officers, who 
assist them in the discharge of their duties. Provin- 
cials, Rectors, Superiors, and some of the Professed, 
compose the Provincial Congregations, where the 
affairs of the district are discussed, and whence the 
delegates which are to be sent to the General Congre- 
gation are chosen. 

Having thus given a general outline of the origin 
and constitutions of the Society, and the limits of this 
work forbidding me to enlarge to any great extent 
upon this part of my subject, I shall now proceed to 
examine its progress. 



PROGRESS OF THE ORDER. 



57 



CHAPTER IV. 

1541-48. 

THE PROGRESS OF THE ORDER, AND ITS FIRST 
GENERAL. 

Ignatius had no sooner obtained a bull from the Pope 
approving of the Society, than he thought it expedient 
to give it a chief, or, to speak more correctly, to be 
himself formally elected as such, being de facto its 
master already. In order, therefore, to proceed to 
the election of the General, he summoned to Rome 
his companions, who were scattered through different 
parts of Europe. Six came. Bobadilla, Xavier, and 
Rodriguez sent their votes written. Both absent and 
present were unanimous in their choice, which (as one 
may well imagine) fell upon Ignatius. He, however, 
had the modesty (so we are told) to refuse the honour, 
and insisted that they should proceed to a new elec- 
tion. The second trial had the same result, but 
Ignatius still declined to accept of the office. At last, 
however, on being much importuned to do so, he ex- 
claimed — " Since you persist in choosing me, who 
know well my infirmities, I cannot in conscience sub- 
scribe to your judgment. It only remains, then, that 
we refer the contested point to my confessor, whom, 
as you know, I consider the interpreter of the Divine 
will."* The good fathers consented to this arrange- 
ment the more willingly, as they had no doubt what- 
ever (I should think not) that Father Theodose 

* Maffei, Vita Ign. p. 90. 



58 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



would approve of their selection. Nor were they 
deceived.* 

On Easter-day, therefore, in the year 1541, he 
assumed the government of the Society, and on the 
following Friday he and his disciples, in the magnifi- 
cent Basilica of St Paul's at Rome, renewed the four 
vows to which they had bound themselves, with extra- 
ordinary pomp and ceremony. 

We candidly admit, however, that Ignatius, after 
reaching the height of his ambition, relaxed nothing in 
the strictness of his conduct, nor allowed that zeal which 
he had manifested in order to attain it, to cool down. 
On the contrary, he seemed to redouble his energy, 
and gain additional strength in his new dignity. The 
days in which he lived were days of battle, and 
Ignatius, not forgetting his first vocation, was impa- 
tient to enter the melee. Protestantism, a giant in its 
infancy, standing in a menacing attitude, with the 
Bible in one hand and the sword in the other, bid de- 
fiance to the impugners of the Sacred Volume. 
Catholicism, old in the debauch of power, discredited 
by the vices of its ministers, could only oppose his 
formidable antagonist with a scattered and undis- 
ciplined army of monks and priests, rendered effete 
by a life of effeminacy and debauchery. At this 
critical moment, Ignatius rushed to the rescue with 
an army, small indeed in number, but composed 
of brave and resolute souls, learned, eloquent, pas- 
sionate, trained to fight, fully persuaded, as almost 
every soldier is, that theirs was the just cause, and 
that to them the victory ought to belong. The 
disciples of Ignatius took the field high in spirits, and 
prepared, if need be, to sacrifice their liberty, their 
blood, their lives, their all, for the cause they had 
embraced, which was in their eyes the cause of God. 
They dispersed to every part of Europe. Lefevre, 
from the Congress of Worms, proceeded to Spain; 
* Maffei, Vita Ign. p. 90. 



PROGRESS OF THE ORDER. 



59 



Lainez and Lejay succeeded him in Germany. Boba- 
dilla went to Naples, Brouet and Salmeron to Ireland,' 
Rodriguez and Xavier to Portugal. Everywhere 
these rigid and fanatic monks were, on the one hand, 
engaged in theological discussion, while, on the other, 
they preached repentance to the people and reform to 
the clergy, and paid no regard to the hatred evinced 
towards them both by Protestants and Catholics. 
It seems as if they courted persecution, and wished 
to wear the martyr's crown. When the infuriated 
populace of Vienna threatened to throw Lejay into 
the Danube, he smiled scornfully, and calmly an- 
swered — " What do I care whether I enter heaven 
by water or land ! " 

From Pome, Ignatius, as an able general, directed 
the movements of all those soldiers of Christ, as they 
styled themselves. He praised one, admonished an- 
other, inspired all with his zeal and fanaticism. Nor 
was this enough for his ardent and indefatigable spirit. 
He turned his attention to less unquestionable acts of 
religion and charity. Many of the hospitals erected 
in the middle of Rome, were the fruits of his zealous 
exertions. The Convent of Santa Martha was opened 
for abandoned women, who wished to repent, and pass 
an upright and easy life. In that of Santa Catherine, 
poor and honest young girls found an asylum against 
temptation and seduction ; fatherless children of both 
sexes were received, and carefully educated, in two 
hospitals which yet exist in Rome ; and the inmates 
of which, on the 31st of July of every year, go in pro- 
cession to the Church of Gesu, to pray to the shrine 
of the saint, and to give thanks to their benefactor. 

However, the gratitude which we owe to Loyola for 
those charitable institutions cannot restrain our indig- 
nation and abhorrence towards the man who had so 
great a share in reviving the infamous tribunal of the 
Inquisition. The Jesuits reckon it among the glories 
of their order, that Loyola supported, by a special 



60 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 

memorial to the Pope, a petitiog. for the reorganising 
of that cruel and abhorred tribunal. 

In the 13th century, the Inquisition had been dia- 
bolically active. 25,000 Albigenses perished for bear- 
ing testimony to the Word of God. Dominique, that 
wholesale butcher of these unfortunate Christians, by 
his barbarous inhumanities, struck horror throughout 
Europe, and gained for himself a place among the 
Roman saints. But, as is always the case, its very 
excess prepared a reaction. The tribunal, as if 
satiated with human suffering, gradually relented, 
and, in the epoch of which we are speaking, had al- 
most fallen into decay. Besides, the inquisitors, chosen 
from among the monastic orders, were little inclined 
to enforce strict and severe laws against practices or 
opinions with which they themselves were in many 
cases chargeable.* Above all, the See of Home, 
under the Alexanders, the Juliuses, the Leos, plunged 
in political affairs, and, extremely lax in matters of 
religion and morality, had little or no inclination 
to enforce the almost forgotten edicts of the Inqui- 
sition. But the new doctrines spread in Germany 
with amazing rapidity ; and the outcry raised against 
the morals of the Catholic clergy produced two 
immediate effects — the partial reform of the more 
flagrant abuses of which the clergy were guilty, 
and the revival of a tribunal, which should destroy 
by fire and sword whoever dared to impugn the 
doctrines of the Popes, and the canonical laws. 
Caraffa, whom we have already mentioned, was the 
principal author of this dreadful tribunal. Through 
his exertions, and those of Loyola, an edict appeared 
on the 21st of July 1542, appointing six cardinals 
commissioners of the Holy See and general inquisitors, 
with poAver to delegate their authority to any person 
they pleased. All ranks of citizens, without exception, 
were subjected to these inquisitors. Suspected persons 
* Bromato Vila dl Paolo IV. lib. vii. § 3. 



PROGRESS OF THE ORDER. 



61 



were immediately imprisoned, the guilty punished with 
death, and their property confiscated. No book could 
be printed or sold (and such is still the case through 
nearly the whole of Italy) without the authority of 
the inquisitor. Hence a catalogue of prohibited 
books, the first issue of which, containing seventy 
works, appeared at Venice. 

In order that the tribunal might be made more effi- 
cient, Caraffa drew up, himself, the following stringent 
rules : — 

" First, When faith is in question, there must be no 
delay ; but, on the slightest suspicion, rigorous mea- 
sures must be resorted to with all speed. 

" Secondly, No consideration is to be shewn to either 
prince or prelate, however high his station. 

" Thirdly, Extreme severity is to be exercised 
against all those who attempt to shield themselves 
under the protection of any potentate ; and those only 
are to be treated with gentleness and fatherly com- 
passion, who make a full and frank confession of the 
charges laid against them. 

" Fourthly, JS T o man must debase himself by shewing 
toleration towards heretics of any kind, and above all 
to Calvinists." * 

This terrible tribunal, in the hands of the relentless 
and unforgiving Caraffa, spread desolation and dismay 
throughout Italy, from its very commencement. 
Thousands were arraigned before it, whose only crime 
consisted in becoming the unhappy victims of such as 
were actuated by the fell rage of revenge, or the thirst 
for power or wealth — in a word, by any or all of those 
foul passions which degrade and brutalise humanity. 
As sacerdotal ferocity then called to its aid the might 
of the secular arm, and thus became all-powerful, death 
assumed a new and more terrible aspect. And he who 
should invent new instruments of torture to dislocate 
the limbs of the victims with the most exquisite and 

* Ranke's Hist, of the Popes, vol. i. p. 189. English translation. 



62 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



excruciating pains possible would be rewarded!!! 
Throughout Italy, and in various parts of Europe, you 
might have seen, whilst the infernal flames of the pile 
were ascending, the sinister and diabolical smile of the 
Jesuits, who were aiming at the increase of their order, 
under the shade of this all-mastering power ! 

But we must resume our history. The first col- 
lege of the order was founded in Coimbra, in 1542, by 
John III. of Portugal. The same year twenty-five 
of his subjects were admitted into it under the super- 
intendence of Rodriguez. 

Lainez, aided by the Lipomana family, erected 
another at the same time in Venice. A third was 
built in Padua. After that Italy became studded with 
them. Those youth whom Loyola, in the beginning 
of 1540, had sent to Paris to study, and receive a 
degree in its university, being expelled from France, 
went to Louvain, and there, under the direction of 
Lefevre, became the inmates of a college afterwards- 
famous. The Jesuits had already many colleges estab- 
lished in Germany, one of which was nursing in its 
bosom Peter Canisius, who became most notorious for 
his cruelties. In Spain, also, the new order met with 
prodigious success. Besides being the birthplace of 
Ignatius and six of the founders of the order, it suc- 
ceeded, at its very commencement, in making a con- 
quest of no less a person than Francis Borgia, Duke 
of Candia, and vice-king of Barcelona. The authority 
of his name, his exertions, and the eloquence of Father 
Araoz, soon covered Spain with houses and colleges. 
Since the year 1543, the order already counting nine 
houses, and more than eighty Professed members, 
Paul III., who at first had limited the number of the 
Jesuits to sixty, being highly satisfied with these new 
champions of the Roman See, issued another bull on 
the 15th of March 1543, by which he empowered the 
order to receive an unlimited number of members. 

In speaking of the different countries into which the 



PROGRESS OF THE ORDER. 



03 



Jesuits had intruded themselves, we have purposely 
passed over England; and that for two reasons:— 
First, Because, writing in England, and for English 
readers, we consider it but fair to expatiate all the 
more on what particularly concerns their own country. 
Secondly, Because the two first Jesuits who entered 
England were intrusted with a special political mission 
— the first one of the kind, and which we are going to 
relate : — 

The severe and somewhat capricious edicts of Henry 
VIII., even after Moore and Fisher had perished 
by the hands of the executioner, while but partially 
obeyed in England, were totally disregarded in Ire- 
land. True it is, that a great part of the aristocracy, 
for fear of proscription and confiscation, had yielded 
to Henry's orders, and even supported him in his des- 
potic policy ; but the bulk of the nation, more per- 
haps out of hatred to their oppressors than from real 
attachment to their religion, refused to subscribe to a 
creed violently enforced by a hated and despotic 
power. Not content with opposing Henry in his reli- 
gious ordinances, they, under the very pretence of 
religion, caused partial insurrections, with the view of 
shaking off the yoke of their masters. But the power 
of Henry bore down all opposition ; and, as Dr Lin- 
gard says, " the English domination over Ireland never 
appeared to be more firmly established." In such a 
state of things, the Archbishop of Armagh, a Scotch- 
man by birth, abandoning the flock confided to his 
care, fled to Rome to implore the assistance of his 
master the Pope. Paul had already evinced great 
anger against Henry for his apostacy. His anger 
was increased by the fact, that not only was he unable 
to prevail on either Francis I. or Charles V. to in- 
vade England, but, that these monarchs had, in the 
face of his express commands, made, successively, a 
treaty with the excommunicated king. Accordingly 
his resentment knew no bounds. However, the means 



64 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



which Paul had at command to contend with Henry 
were inadequate to gratify the hate which rankled in 
his bosom towards him. Determined, nevertheless, 
not to remain inactive, he thought of despatching 
some emissaries into Ireland, in order that, by work- 
ing upon the ignorant and bigoted minds of its 
fanatic inhabitants, he might excite them to a civil 
war. With this pious end in view, he turned his 
eyes to this newly established society, and asked 
from the General two of its members, to be sent 
thither. From that day, down to the recent mission 
of Cardinal Wiseman, the Court of Eome has striven, 
more or less openly, more or less eagerly, to exasperate 
the Irish Catholics against the English Protestants, 
and has made Ireland a sore thorn to the sister island. 
Many a time did Pius V. exclaim, that he would wil- 
lingly shed his blood in a war against England ; and 
Gregory XIII. was seriously meditating to march in 
person, and head the insurrection which broke out in 
Ireland during the reign of Elizabeth ! 

The two Jesuits whom Ignatius gave to the Pope for 
this mission were Salmeron and Brouet, who received 
secret instructions from the Pope, and were honoured 
with the name of Papal Nuncios. " They accepted 
with joy the perils of the embassy, but were in no way 
ambitious of the lustre and honour which the title 
conferred."* So modest they were, according to Mr 
Cretineau. 

The fact is, that they could not and would not have 
dared to assume in public the title of the Pope's 
Legates, or Nuncios, and were obliged to content 
themselves to be simple and secret emissaries. Ig- 
natius also gave them private instructions, and we may 
thank Orlandini for having sent down this document, 
which, if well examined, clearly shews that the crafty 
and mysterious policy for which the Society has 
earned such merited notoriety and execration, is as 

* Cretineau, vol. i. p. 134. 



PROGRESS OF THE ORDER. 



65 



old as the order. Here is the precious document, 
which, however, shews a remarkable knowledge of 
human nature : — 

" I recommend you to be, in your intercourse with 
all the world in general — but particularly with your 
equals and inferiors — modest and circumspect in your 
words, always disposed and patient to listen, lending 
an attentive ear till the persons who speak to you have 
unveiled the depth of their sentiments. Then you 
will give them a clear and brief answer which may 
anticipate all discussion. 

" In order to conciliate to yourselves the goodwill 
of men in the desire of extending the kingdom of God, 
you will make yourselves all things to all men, after 
the example of the apostle, in order to gain them to 
Jesus Christ. Nothing, in effect, is more adapted than 
the resemblance of tastes and habits to conciliate 
affection, to gain hearts. 

" Thus, after having studied the character and 
manners of each person, you will endeavour to con- 
form yourselves to them as much as duty will permit, 
— so that, if you have to do with an excitable and 
ardent character, you should shake of all tedious 
prolixity. 

" You must, on the contrary, become somewhat slow 
and measuring in speech, if the person to whom you 
speak is more circumspect and deliberate in his speech. 

" For the rest, if he who has to do with a man of 
irascible temperament has himself that defect, and if 
they do not agree thoroughly in their opinion, it is 
greatly to be feared lest they permit themselves to be 
hurried into passion. Therefore, he who recognises 
in himself that propensity ought to watch himself with 
the most vigilant care, and fortify his heart with a 
supply of strength, in order that anger should not 
surprise him ; but rather that he may endure with 
equanimity all that he shall suffer from the other, 
even should the latter be his inferior. Discussions and 



66 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



quarrels are much less to be apprehended from quiet 
and slow tempers than from the excitable and ardent. 

"In order to attract men to virtue, and fight the 
enemy of salvation, you shall employ the arms he uses 
to destroy them — such is the advice of St Basil. 

"When the devil attacks a just man, he does not let 
him see his snares; on the contrary, he hides them, 
and attacks him only indirectly, without resisting his 
pious inclinations, feigning even to conform to them ; — 
but by degrees he entices him, and surprises him in 
his snares. Thus it is proper to follow a similar track 
to extricate men from sin. 

" Begin with praising what is good in them, without 
at first attacking their vices ; when you shall have 
gained their confidence, apply the remedy proper for 
their cure. 

" With regard to melancholy or unsettled persons, 
exhibit whilst addressing them, as much as you can, a 
gay and serene countenance — give the greatest sweet- 
ness to your words, in order to restore them to a state 
of mental tranquillity — combating one extreme by 
another extreme. 

" Not only in your sermons, but also in your private 
conversation, particularly when you reconcile people 
at variance, do not lose sight of the fact that all your 
words may be published — what you say in darkness 
may be manifested in the light of day. 

" In affairs anticipate the time, rather than defer or 
adjourn it ; if you promise anything for to-morrow, 
do it to-day. As to money, do not touch even that 
which shall be fixed for the expenses which you shall 
pay. Let it be distributed to the poor by other hands, 
or employ it in good works, in order that you may be 
able, in case of need, to affirm on oath that in the 
course of your legation you have not received a 
penny. When you have to speak to the great, let 
Pasquier Bruet have the charge. Deliberate with 
yourselves in all the points touching which your senti- 



PROGRESS OF THE ORDER. 



67 



tnents might be at variance. Do what two persons 
out of three would have approved, if called upon to 
decide. 

"Write often to Rome during your journey — as soon 
as you shall have reached Scotland, and also when you 
shall have got over to Ireland. Then give an account 
of your legation monthly."* 

Now, examine well these instructions, and you will 
find that the true Jesuit must be crafty, insinuating, 
deceitful, even whilst pretending to be a most sincere 
Christian, and as if raised by God to defend his holy 
religion. Their sacrilegious maxim, "that no means 
can be bad when the end is good," sanctifies in their 
eyes the most atrocious crimes. 

At first sight, these precepts which Ignatius gave 
to the two emissaries of Paul, although not very 
honest, appear in themselves prudent instructions for 
proceeding in what they considered a most holy cause 
— the maintenance of the Catholic religion. But 
apply them to political purposes — and Ignatius knew 
that this was -the case — and you will at once perceive 
the extent of the Jesuit immorality, and the artful 
way in which, in the name of the most sacred of 
all things — religion, they accomplish the most heinous 
offences. 

But listen to the ingenious Mr Cretineau : — In these 
instructions," says he, " Loyola takes care to be silent 
about those which the Pope had given them ; he keeps 
aloof from politics. Salmeron and Brouet are the 
Pope's legates, and have his confidence. Ignatius 
endeavours to make them worthy of it, but he does 
not go beyond."| Good ! You confess, then, that 
Paul — Christ's vicegerent — is plotting revenge under 
the garb of religion, and that he has sent the Jesuits 
on a political mission. Ignatius, confident in Paul's 
abilities, confined himself to the prescribing of rules 
calculated to insure success in their undertaking ; you 

* Orland. lib. iii. 48; Cret. vol. i. p. 134. + Cret. vol. i. p. 136. 



68 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



prize him for that, and boast that he keeps aloof from 
politics ? Good ! 

Salmeron and Brouet set out on their mission, and, 
as they were ordered, visited Holyrood on their way 
to Ireland. James V. was then on the throne of 
Scotland, who, " there is reason to believe/ 7 says the 
author of the Tales of a Grandfather, " was some- 
what inclined to the Reformed doctrines — at least he 
encouraged the poet Lindsay to compose bitter satires 
against the corruptions of the Roman Catholic clergy." 
His uncle, Henry VIII., encouraged him in this dis- 
position, strongly advised him to take possession of the 
immense wealth of the religious orders ; and desired an 
interview with him at York in the beginning of the 
year 1542. Henry went there, and waited six days 
for his nephew, but he never made his appearance. 
There can be little doubt that the Jesuits, who had 
arrived in Scotland some time before with the Pope's 
letter for the king, to whom they were introduced 
by Beaton, of cruel and tragic memory, who had 
known Loyola at Rome, used their utmost influence to 
prevent this meeting. Nor do I think it presumption 
to assert that the two Jesuits, and the letter which 
they brought from Paul, who exhorted the king to re- 
main faithful to the religion of his fathers, were the 
chief cause that detained him at home. The war 
which followed soon after, with disastrous consequences 
to both nations, and especially to Scotland, as well 
as the torrents of blood shed during a long course 
of religious struggles, would, in all likelihood, have 
been avoided had James resisted the influence of the 
J esuits. 

Meanwhile Paul's two emissaries arrived in Ireland 
about the month of February 1542. There, according 
to Jesuitical historians, they wrought prodigies, reform- 
ing and stirring up the people, and confirming them 
in the tenets of the true religion ; celebrating masses, 
hearing confessions, and especially granting many in* 



PROGRESS OF THE ORDER. 



69 



diligences ; # exacting from the people a very moderate 
tax, which, according to the instructions of Ignatius, 
was not gathered by themselves, but by a stranger.f 
The people flocked around them, and poured out bene- 
dictions upon their head. Their adversaries, on the 
other hand, assert that they plotted to stir up one 
class of citizens against another, and drained the 
pockets of the credulous Irishmen so forcibly, that at 
last they became so odious in the eyes of the people, 
that they threatened to deliver them into the hands of 
Henry's officers.^ We ourselves believe that both of 
these versions are in part true. No doubt they, to 
keep up appearance, said masses, heard many confes- 
sions, granted millions of indulgences, but there is as 
little doubt that they excited the people against their 
excommunicated sovereign, whom, to be faithful to 
their religion, they must execrate, and use all their 
efforts to dethrone. That they collected money from 
the people, either party confess; but whether that 
money was employed for the repairing of the churches 
and the supporting of widows and orphans, as the one 
pretends, or as an aliment to foment civil war, as the 
other asserts, is not sufficiently ascertained. We leave 
our readers to judge for themselves. Certain it is, 
however, they only continued in Ireland for thirty- 
four days, and during that time they wandered about 
from place to place in disguise, never sleeping two suc- 
cessive nights under the same roof, afraid every 
moment of being seized. Upon leaving, they formed 
the noble complot (says Mr Cretineau, illustrating Or- 
landini) of going to London, and finding means of being 
admitted into Henry's presence, when, by their elo- 
quence and tenderness, they would disarm the anger 
of the king, in pleading the cause of the Catholic reli- 

* Cumulatam peccatorum indulgentiam tribuebant. — Orland. lib. iii. 
sec. 59. 

f Exceptiones imnmnitatesque, aut plane gratuitas aut cere permo- 
dico tenuoribus indugebant, &c. — Ibid, and Cret. vol. i. p. 140. 
Z Steinmetz, vol. i. p. 308. 



70 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



gion at the tribunal of his conscience.* It was as well 
for Henry, and England too, that their plan was found 
to be "impracticable." We must not forget that they 
were the emissaries of that Paul who thought the sword 
and the stake, for the conversion of heretics, to be 
the most effectual and conclusive arguments. Neither 
must we forget, that some years after, James Clement 
and Eavaillac adopted a more expeditious way than 
eloquence for the converting of Henrys III. and IV. 
Salmeron and Brouet thought it advisable, in the cir- 
cumstances, to retire into France, and being ordered 
by Paul to return again into Scotland, they refused to 
obey, and went direct to Rome. 

Thus ended the first mission into England. Would 
to God it had been the last ! 

* Orl. lib. iii. 60 ; Cret. vol. i. p. 141. 



THE FEMALE JESUITS. 



71 



CHAPTER V. 

1547-1631. 
THE FEMALE JESUITS. 

Before proceeding further, we think it proper to make 
a few observations on the Female J esuitical Institution 
which was established at this period, especially as the 
order still exists, though under a different name. 

When Ignatius was living at Barcelona, he received 
many kindnesses and favours at the hand of a lady 
called Rosello. But after he had left this place, his 
mind was so absorbed in devising so many and lofty 
projects, that he entirely forgot her. She did not, 
however, forget Ignatius. Hearing of his increasing 
sanctity, of his having become the founder and general 
of a new order, and ' 6 being then a widow, she resolved 
to abandon the world, and live in accordance with his 
evangelical councils, and under the authority of the 
Society. With this pious resolution, and being joined 
in her holy enterprise by two virtuous and noble 
Roman ladies, she asked and received from Paul per- 
mission to embrace this kind of life."* Ignatius had 
the perception to see that these ladies would' be an in- 
cumbrance to him and his order, " yet the gratitude 
which he owed to his kind benefactress weighed so 
much upon his heart, that he consented to receive them 
under his protection." But he soon had reason to re- 
pent of this act of condescension ; the annoyance was 
so great, that he confessed himself that they gave him 

* Relyotf vol. vii. p. 491. 



72 — - HISTORY OF THE JESUITS, 

more trouble than the whole community, because he 
could never get done with them. At every moment 
he was obliged to resolve their strange questions, to 
allay their scruples, to hear their complaints, or settle 
their differences ;* and as, notwithstanding all his saga- 
city, Ignatius did not foresee of what advantage women 
could one day be to the order, he applied to the Pope 
to be relieved of this charge, writing, at the same time, 
the following letter to Kosello : — 

" Venerable Dame Isabella Kosello — my Mother 
and my Sister in J esus Christ, — In truth I would wish, 
for the greater glory of God, to satisfy your good de- 
sires, and procure your spiritual progress by keeping 
you under my obedience, as you have been for some 
time past ; but the continual ailments to which I am 
subject, and all my occupations which concern the ser- 
vice of our Lord, or his vicar on earth, permit me to 
do so no longer. Moreover, being persuaded, accord- 
ing to the light of my conscience, that this little 
Society ought not to take upon itself, in particular, 
the direction of any woman who may be engaged to 
us by vows of obedience, as I have fully declared to 
our Holy Father the Pope, it has seemed to me for 
the greater glory of God, that I ought no longer to 
look upon you as my spiritual daughter, and only as 
my godmother, as you have been for many years, to 
the greater glory of God. Consequently, for the 
greater service, and the greater honour of the ever- 
lasting Goodness, I give you as much as I can into 
the hands of the sovereign Pontiff, in order that, 
taking his judgment and will as a rule, you may find 
rest and consolation for the greater glory of the Divine 
Majesty. — At Rome, the first of October 1549." 

The Pope complied with the request, and exempted 
the order from the superintendence of women; and 
Ignatius enacted in the Constitutions, " that no mem- 
ber of the Society should undertake the care of souls, 
* Helyot, vol. vii. p. 491. 



THE FEMALE JESUITS. 



73 



nor of Religious, or of any other women whatever " 
[Loyola's disciples thought proper to differ from him], 
" so as frequently to hear their confessions, or give 
them directions, although there is no objection to their 
receiving the confession of a monastery once, and for 
a special reason." * 

Dame Rosello and her two companions, being de- 
prived of their spiritual father, not wishing to change 
him for another — so faithful were they — desisted at 
once from their pious undertaking, and for a time 
nothing more was heard of female Jesuits ; but, about 
the year 1622, some females, more meddling than 
devoted, took upon themselves the task of reviving 
the institution, although they were not authorised to 
do so. Nevertheless, they united into different com- 
munities, established houses for noviciates and colleges, 
chose a general under the name of Proposta, and 
made vows into her hands of perpetual chastity, 
poverty, and obedience. Not being restrained by 
any law of seclusion, they went from place to place, 
bustling with gossip, and causing confusion and scan- 
dal throughout the Catholic camp. The community 
soon spread over a great part of lower Germany, 
France, Spain, and was especially numerous in Italy, 
where it originated. 

Urban VIII., after vainly endeavouring to impose 
upon them some rules of discipline, by a brief of the 
21st May 1631, suppressed them.f 

* Const, pars vi. cap. iii. § 7. To "be a nun's confessor was, and is 
still, deemed a high privilege. Before the Council of Trent, this privi- 
lege belonged to the order of St Francis, under whose rules most of the 
nuns also live. The conduct of these brothers and sisters was in the 
highest degree improper and scandalous. Although the Franciscans are 
now no longer the titular confessors of these nuns, nevertheless they are 
on the most friendly terms with one another ; upon which friendships 
the Italians exercise their satirical and sarcastic wit. The confessors are 
now chosen by the respective bishops, who confer the honour upon their 
most faithful adherents, as a reward for their services. The rivalries of 
those sainted women, and their ingenious contrivances to engage the 
smile of their holy father, are notorious to every one who lives near a 
convent. 

*b Helyoty vol. iii. p, 492. 



74 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 

Thus ended the Society of Female Jesuits under 
this name and form. But another afterwards sprung 
up in its place, under the appellation of Beligieuse du 
Sacre Coeur, having special rules very like those of 
the Jesuits, under whose absolute directions they now 
are. 

In Catholic countries — above all, in France, and, we 
are sorry to say, in Piedmont also — very many of the 
highest rank in society send their daughters to be 
educated in these monasteries. Had Ignatius known 
what powerful auxiliaries these worthy nuns were likely 
to prove to his order, he would, in all likelihood, have 
borne with those petty annoyances caused to him by 
good Dame Kosello. Ladies educated by these nuns 
bring into their homes all those dissensions and cause 
all those evils which are so ably described by the 
French professor, Michelet, who lost his chair the 
other day for daring to attack these all-powerful 
auxiliaries of Napoleon — the Jesuits. 



FIRST OPPOSITION TO THE ORDER. 



75 



CHAPTER VI. 

1548-56. 

THE FIRST OPPOSITION TO THE ORDER, AND DEATH 
OF LOYOLA. 

The order of Jesuits, which had hitherto progressed 
so favourably, was now surrounded with difficulties 
and enemies. While the rapid increase of the Society, 
the influence it had acquired, and the wealth which it 
had already accumulated, combined to render the 
Jesuits less cautious and more authoritative, they 
caused also a great deal of envy, especially among 
those classes menaced by the company in some of 
their privileges. At the first opportunity an attempt 
was made to crush the order in the bud. 

This opportunity was offered by the emperor, 
Charles V., who had at no time been very favour- 
able to the institution, and who, no matter how 
bigoted a Catholic he may have become in his latter 
days, was then just as much Catholic as was neces- 
sary to extend his dominions and to consolidate his 
despotic power. 

In 1548, Charles, indignant at the cunning policy 
of Paul III., who set the emperor to war with the 
Reformers, and who deserted him when he feared 
that, being master of the Protestant league, he would 
also become his dictator — Charles, we say, when the 
Pope recalled his troops, not wishing to drive the Pro- 
testant princes to extremities, published the famous 
Interim, a sort of compromise between the two 



76 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



creeds, and a tacit acquiescence in the more com- 
monly received doctrines of the Reformers, leaving, 
besides, in their hands, the confiscated ecclesiastical 
properties. Paul became furious at the audacity of a 
layman mingling in matters of faith, and loudly ex- 
claimed against the prince. Cardinal Farnese, the 
Pope's legate and nephew, told the emperor that his 
book contained at least ten propositions which were 
heretical, and for which he might be called to account* 
Besides his legate, the Pope had in Germany a staunch 
and faithful partisan in the person of Bobadilla. Boba- 
dilla was a bold and thorough Jesuit. He went to 
the war, and attached himself as a sort of commissary 
to the troops which the Pope's grandson had led into 
Germany. At the battle of Mulberg he received a 
wound, but this gave him little concern. Some days 
afterwards, he was to be seen at Passau, a Protestant 
town, preaching the Catholic tenets, and announcing 
a day of thanksgiving for the victory that the Catho- 
lics had gained over the Protestants. 

Tou may well believe that such a man would not 
hesitate to attack the Interim. In fact, by writing, 
by preaching publicly and privately, Bobadilla boldly 
denounced the book, and that even in the presence of 
the emperor himself, as a sacrilegious composition. 
The emperor, frustrating the Jesuit's desire to gain 
renown by means of persecution, simply expelled him 
from all his estates. 

Bobadilla hastened to Rome to receive, he hoped, 
the deserved ovation. But, alas! how bitterly was 
he deceived ! Ignatius, " fearing that Bobadilla in 
impugning the Interim may have gone beyond due 
bounds, thought it better at first not to receive him 
into the house." * So Orlandini. Our Mr Cretineau, 
who generally transcribes literally, here, with more 
zeal than prudence, thus reports the passage of the 
Jesuit writer : — " Loyola seized hold of this circum- 
* Orl. lib. viii. § 6 f 



FIRST OPPOSITION TO THE ORDER. 77 

stance to revenge the majesty of kings, which, even 
in the height of the dispute, one ought never to at- 
tain." * We understand you well, Mr Cretineau ! you 
have lost much of your influence over the people, 
too well educated to repose much faith, either in 
your sanctity or your miracles, and you intend to pre- 
serve some of your domineering influence, by cling- 
ing to these same kings against whom, when they 
were adverse to you, you directed the poniard of the 
assassin ! 

Bobadilla's expulsion seemed to have been the signal 
for the outburst of a violent war against the order, 
especially in Spain. The fight began at Salamanca. 
Three Jesuits, Sanci, Capella, and Turrian, arrived 
there in 1548, for the purpose of establishing their 
Society. They entered the town in the most piti- 
able condition, and were so poor, that, " having no 
image to adorn the altar of their private chapel with, 
they in its stead put a piece of paper, upon which 
was delineated, I do not know what figure — ' Im- 
pressam nescio,' says Orlandini, 6 quam in papyro 
figuram, pro scite picta tabula collocarent.' " f And 
Cretineau thus translates it: — " In consequence" (of 
having no picture), " one of them simply sketched on 
a piece of paper an image of the Virgin, and this 
paper, stuck on the wall, was the only ornament of the 
high altar." % 

I must say I feel surprised at their candour! You 
confess, then, that you worship a dirty scrap of paper, 
upon which you do not know what sort of figure was 
represented, or you scratch four lines and make it 
the object of your cultus — the indispensable ornament 
of your altar, upon which you are going to renew the 
sacrifice of the Cross! Ah! we already knew thai 
your religion only consisted in externalities — in blind 
and absurd superstitions. Yet we register this other 
example to prove your own idolatry, and your constant 

* Cret. vol. i. p. 284. f Orlan. lib. viii. p. 43. % Cret. vol. i. p. 285. 



78 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



practice, to represent Christ the Lord in the back- 
ground, while adoring images and statues which you 
have made according to your hearts' wishes, as our 
great poet says, of gold and silver — 

" Fatto Vavete Die- d'oro e, d'argento." — Dante, Inferno, cant. xix. 

However, there lived at that time at Salamanca a 
Dominican friar, famous for his eloquence, his learn- 
ing, and particularly for his uprightness of purpose — ■ 
Melchior Cano. He had known Loyola, and formed 
a bad opinion of him, because he never ceased speak- 
ing of his revelations, his visions, his virtues, his un- 
deserved persecutions. 

After his disciples came to Salamanca, equipped only 
with their bigoted fanaticism, and of doubtful morality, 
he resolved to oppose them, and poured forth against 
them, from his chair and pulpit, torrents of eloquent 
invectives. He represented them as crafty, insinuat- 
ing ; living in palaces, deceiving the kings and the 
great ; declaring them to be soiled by every species 
of crime; capable of all kinds of excesses; and 
dangerous both to religion and society. 

We may perhaps say that the picture which he, in 
his passionate eloquence, drew of the members of the 
order, which he also called the pioneers of Antichrist, 
was then somewhat exaggerated. The Jesuits at that 
time were not so perverse as he represented them to be, 
for they had as yet only existed for a few years. But 
it would seem that Cano had spoken in the spirit of 
prophecy, of the character which it assumed in after 
generations, the germ of which he may have seen be- 
ginning to develop itself. 

If the letter which we are about to transcribe, 
written by him in 1560, two days before his death, is 
not to be numbered among the prophecies, it is never- 
theless an extraordinary prediction, which came to be 
fulfilled in every point. Here is this remarkable 
letter : — " God grant that it may not happen to me as 



FIRST OPPOSITION TO THE ORDER. 



79 



is fabled of Cassandra, whose predictions were not 
believed till Troy was captured and burned. If the 
members of the Society continue as they have begun, 
God grant that the time may not come when kings 
will wish to resist them, but will not have the means 
of doing so." * 

But we have anticipated. — The hideous colours 
in which he pourtrayed the disciples of Loyola made 
such an impression in Salamanca, that the Jesuits were 
not allowed to establish themselves in it. In vain did 
the Pope, taking up the cause of the Jesuits, by a 
bull reprove the conduct of Cano. In vain did the 
General of the Dominicans issue a circular to all his 
subordinates, in which, after a long eulogium on the 
Society, he says that "it ought to be praised and 
imitated, and not assailed with calumnies.f Cano, 
disregarding both the Papal brief and his general's 
circular, and being supported, at least secretly, by 
the civil authorities, boldly held out against the order. 
What could his adversaries do ? Persecution and re- 
venge were impossible against a subject of the empe- 
ror, who was then at war with the Pope, and yet 
Cano must be got rid of. Well, one fine morning he 
was strangely and agreeably surprised with the news, 
that that same Pope who had threatened and censured 
him had now conferred upon him the bishopric of 
the Canaries. Dazzled and flattered, the friar yielded 
at first to the temptation, and left Salamanca for his 
bishopric. But soon, very soon, he perceived why he 
had been sent so far away. Resolved, therefore, to 
baffle his enemies' cunning, he resigned the Episco- 
pal dignity, and returned to Salamanca, the un- 
doubted and indefatigable adversary of the order. 
He died Provincial of his order, and much respected.- 

About the same epoch, 1548, the University of Al- 
cala also declared against the order. The contest 
lasted for a considerable time ; and even after many 

* Crel. vol. i. p. 290. t Orland. lib. viii. 10. 



80 



HISTOi-^OF THE JESUITS. 



of the doctors were, by the usual mysterious arts> 
gained over to the cause of the company, Dr Scala 
persisted in his opposition, and did not refrain from 
attacking them till he was called before the Inquisi- 
tion, and threatened with an auto-da-fe.* 

The opposition which the Jesuits encountered in 
Toledo, where they had already established them- 
selves, was a more serious affair. They had found 
here the population docile, and easy to be imposed 
upon. They had introduced sundry abuses, and many 
superstitious practices. Nay, their devotees — horrid to 
say ! — went to the communion table twice a day ! In 
the year 1550, these scandalous enormities forced 
themselves upon the attention of the authorities. Don 
Siliceo, Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo, once tutor to 
Philip of Spain, wishing to repress them, published an 
ordinance, reproving and condemning them, and in 
which, after bitterly reproaching the Jesuits for their 
many usurpations, he forbids the people, under pain 
of excommunication, to confess to any Jesuit, and em- 
powers all curates to exclude them from the adminis- 
tration of all sacraments ; furthermore, laying an in- 
terdict upon the Jesuit College of Alcala. 

This ordinance produced a great excitement among 
the Jesuits and their partisans, and nothing was left 
untried to make the archbishop relent. But neither 
the influence that the Society already possessed, nor 
the intercession of the Papal nuncio, and of the Arch- 
bishop of Burgos, nor even the Pope's own authority, 
could vanquish the archbishop's hostility. Then the 
bold Loyola had the impudence to institute a process 
against the archbishop, before the Royal Council of 
Spain. Paul III. was dead, and was succeeded by 
Julius III., who, as Ignatius well knew, was on the 
best terms with Charles. The Royal Council con- 
demned the prelate, who thereupon recalled the inter- 
dict! — not that his opinions were changed, but to avoid, 

* Cret. vol. i. p. 299. 

t Ibid. p. 292. As this author generally quotes Orlandini and the 



FIRST OPPOSITION TO THE ORDER. 



81 



perhaps, the fate which encountered his successor, the 
learned but unfortunate Carranza — twelve years of 
torture in the dungeons of the Inquisition. 

A still fiercer tempest was gathering over the heads 
of the Jesuits at Saragossa. Instructive is the cause 
of the quarrel. The town of Saragossa was so full of 
convents and monasteries, that, to observe the rule 
which forbade any religious house to be built within 
a certain distance of another, it was impossible for 
the Jesuits to find a spot unforbidden. However, after 
thoroughly surveying the town, they imagined they 
had found a spot at the requisite distance. They there 
erect a house and a chapel, which is to be consecrated 
on Easter Tuesday 1555. Great preparations are 
made to make the pageant pompous and attractive, 
when, alas ! Lopez Marcos, Vicar-general of Saragossa, 
on the complaint of the Augustine Friars, who pretend 
that the chapel was built on their grounds, intimated 
to Father Brama, the superior of the house, that the 
ceremony might be deferred. Brama refused to obey. 
Lopez, at the very moment the Jesuits were perform- 
ing the solemn ceremony, issued a proclamation for- 
bidding the chapel to be entered under pain of excom- 
munication. Anathemas were poured upon the fathers, 
and the clergy, accompanied by a great crowd of 
people, march through the town, singing the 109th 
Psalm, the people repeating — " As he clothed himself 
with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come 
into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones ;" 
and, to unite the ludicrous with the terrible, they carry 
along images with hideous faces, representing the 
Jesuits dragged to hell by a legion of demons still 
more hideous. A funeral procession, with the image 
of Christ covered with a black veil, singing lugubrious 
songs, march towards the house of the Jesuits. From 

other Jesuitical writers verbatim, we shall refer our readers to him, 
as it can much more easily be procured, and we shall only quote from 
the original when the translation is inaccurate. 



82 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 

time to time, the cry, " Mercy ! Mercy ! " burst from 
the crowd, as they wished to avert the curse of God 
from an interdicted city. The poor Jesuits, shut up 
in their own house, patiently wait for a fortnight, until 
the tempest should pass away. But this ignoble gob- 
lin representation, worthy only of Jesuits and of their I 
opponents, not yet ending, Loyola's disciples, as usual, 
gave way, feeling assured that, if actual force would 
be of no avail in making good their claim, intrigues 
and cunning would in the end win the day. Nor were , 
they deceived.* 

In Portugal, dangers of another kind menaced the ' 
Society. It seemed as if Portugal were to be the 
theatre where the Jesuits were to perform the principal 
act of their ignoble drama. 

The protection of John III., united with the zeal of 
Rodriguez, had made this country one of the most 
flourishing provinces of the Society. But its very 
prosperity nearly caused its ruin. Having possessed 
themselves of immense wealth, the Jesuits, yielding to 
the common law, relaxed in the strictness of their con- 
duct, pursued a life of pleasure and debauchery ; above 
all, their principal college (Coimbra) resembled more a 
garden of academics than a cloister, j Scandal became 
so great, that the court began to frown upon them, 
and the people were losing that respect and venera- i 
tion with which they had before regarded them. ! 
Ignatius, of course, was soon informed of the state of 
things, and took at once the most energetic measures 
for repressing the evil (in 1552). Rodriguez was 
recalled and sent to Spain, and a new provincial and 
rector were sent to Coimbra. 

Miron, the provincial, attempted a reform, but the 
Jesuits — spoiled children — refused to submit to it. , 
Some he dismissed from the college — a greater num- 
ber abandoned it. Insubordination and disorder were 
at their height. Fortunately, Ignatius had in the 
* Cret. vol. i. p. 305. + Ibid. p. 299. 



FIRST OPPOSITION TO THE ORDER. 



83 



rector Godin a man according to his heart. Godin 
proved a worthy disciple of the author of the Spiritual 
Exercises. Stripping his shoulders of their garments, 
arming himself with a scourge, he rushed, demoniac- 
like, out into the streets of Coimbra, and flagellated 
himself, crying for mercy. Breathless, covered with 
dust and blood, running and screaming, he returned 
to the college church, where the brethren were as- 
sembled, and here he again lashed himself. Strange 
and uncommon examples fire the imagination and pre- 
judices of imitators. The Jesuits were at first sur- 
prised ; then, all on a sudden, they beg to be allowed 
to undergo the same public penance. Godin feigns to 
refuse ; he speaks of the scandal given — he paints in 
strong colours the enormities of their sins, and dwells at 
length upon the sufferings and passion of Christ. When 
he had wrought their feelings to the highest pitch, he. 
granted them the permission solicited, and, like a crowd 
of Bacchanti, when their deity rages within them, they 
all rush out of the church, and with lamentable cries 
run through the streets, scourging themselves in a 
most merciless manner. When they reached the Church 
of the Misericordia, they knelt down, whilst the rector 
begged pardon of the multitude for the scandal they 
had given them. Some of the people are moved — 
others laugh loudly — but the intent of the rector is 
obtained. The disciples become more tractable ; the 
college submits to the necessary reform, and the Jesuits 
regain their influence.* 

The Society met with a more serious and durable 
opposition in France. After their first banishment 
they had returned to Paris, but there they had no 
house of their own, neither could they find any. 
They therefore took up their abode in the College des 
Lombards, till Du Prat, Bishop of Clermond, offered 
them his own hotel, to which they immediately re- 
* Cret. vol. i. p. 290. 



84 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



paired. As yet, however, this establishment was 
neither a house for professed members, since there 
were none of them, nor a noviciate, since the rules 
for the noviciate were not established till six or seven 
years afterwards. The members who repaired to 
Clermond hotel were only students, or priests aspiring 
to become members of the Society ; but we are told 
that they were so conspicuous for their learning and 
piety, that three of them were chosen by Ignatius to 
establish a new college in Sicily, while Viole, the chief 
of those aspirants, was named by the university, 
Procurator of the College des Lombards. This 
nomination, however, appeared to Ignatius to be of a 
rather doubtful character, since it proceeded from the 
university, which had been adverse to the order from 
the first. It seems as if he feared that these students, 
seduced by the allurements of honour and emoluments, 
would renounce their pious determination to become 
Jesuits; he therefore ordered Viole to give up the 
appointment, and to take the vows of the order 
before Du Prat, enjoining at the same time, that all 
students who may receive any pension from the 
College des Lombards should instantly renounce it. 
Although these orders were absolute, they were 
promptly obeyed. The great secret of Loyola's 
influence and power lay in the inflexibility of his 
character, and in his military education, which ren- 
dered him absolute and imperative, and excluded the 
possibility of others disputing his orders. 

Meanwhile the Society in France — we should say 
in Paris — the only place where it had tried to establish 
itself, lived in a most precarious state, until the year 
1550, when Henry II., stimulated by the too famous 
cardinal of Guise, thought of establishing the Jesuits 
in his kingdom, and issued patent letters authorising 
them to do so. 

The ordinances of the French king were not at 



FIRST OPPOSITION TO THE ORDER. 



85 



this time considered binding, until they were regis- 
tered by the parliament.* When those concerning 
the Jesuits were brought before them, the parliament, 
after hearing the conclusions of their Advocate-Gene- 
ral, refused to register them, on the ground " that the 
new institute would be prejudicial to the monarchy, 
the state, and the ecclesiastical hierarchy." 

The contest lasted for two years, when the king, in 
1552, sent an order to the parliament to register the 
patent letters of 1550, authorising the establishment of 
the Jesuits. The order was formal and imperative, yet 
the parliament refused to comply with it, although, 
out of deference to the sovereign will, they advised 
that further inquiries be made concerning the Society. 

After other two years of serious consideration and 
strict inquiry, the parliament, in 1554, enacted that "the 
bull establishing the Society, and the king's patent let- 
ters, shall be communicated both to the Archbishop of 
Paris, and to the Faculty of Theology there, in order 
that, their opinion heard, the court may come to a sen- 
tence. The archbishop and the faculty were thus called 
to decide upon a question of their exclusive competence, 
since the one was the ecclesiastical superior, and the 
other the natural judge in matters of faith. Both took 
the case in hand, and after due consideration, they re- 
spectively decided against the establishment of the 
Society. The archbishop, Eustache de Bellay, belong- 
ing to one of the most illustrious parliamentary 
families of France, after mature deliberation, gave 
out all the reasons why he thought it his duty to op- 
pose the introduction of the order, and concluded in 
this remarkable and logical way : — " Since the order 
pretends to be established for the purpose of preach- 

* Our readers must not take the word parliament in the same signifi- 
cation it has in England. The parliament of France was composed of a 
body of magistrates, and formed the Supreme Court of Judicature, in 
which the princes of the "blood had a seat ; and which was sometimes 
presided over by the king. Every province had its parliament, but none 
exercised the same influence with that of Paris. 

G 



86 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



ing to the Turks and infidels, to bring them to the know- 
ledge of God ; they ought to establish their houses and 
societies in places near the said infidels, as in the times 
of old had been done by the Knights of Rhodes, who 
were placed on the frontiers of Christendom, not in the 
midst thereof." But the severe and bitter censure of 
the Doctors of the Sorbonne was a more explicit con- 
demnation of the order. Here is the document of their 
famous " conclusion :" — 

" As all the faithful, and principally the theologians, 
ought to be ready to render an account to those who 
demand the same, respecting matters of faith, morals, 
and the edification of the Church ; the faculty has 
thought, that it ought to satisfy the desire, the de- 
mand, and the intention of the court. 

" Wherefore, having perused, and many times re- 
perused, and well comprehended all the articles of the 
two bulls, and after having discussed and gone to the 
depths of them, during several months, at different 
times and hours, according to custom, due regard be- 
ing had to the subject, tlie Faculty has, with unani- 
mous consent, given this judgment, which it has sub- 
mitted with all manner of respect to that of the Holy 
See. 

" This new Society, which arrogates to itself in par- 
ticular the unusual title of the name of Jesus — which 
receives with so much freedom, and without any choice, 
all sorts of persons, however criminal, lawless, and in- 
famous they may be— which differs in nowise from 
the secular priests in outward dress, in the tonsure, in 
the manner of saying the canonical hours in private, 
or in chaunting in public, in the engagement to remain 
in the cloister and observe silence, in the choice of food 
and days, in fasting, and the variety of rules, laws, and 
ceremonies which serve to distinguish the different in- 
stitutes of monks ; — this Society, to which lmve been 
granted and given so many privileges and licences, 
chiefly in what concerns the administration of the sac- 



FIRST OPPOSITION TO THE ORDER. 



87 



raments of penance and the eucharist, and this without 
any regard or distinction being had of places or per- 
sons; as also in the function of preaching, reading, 
and teaching, to the prejudice of the ordinaries and 
the hierarchical order, as well as of the other religious 
orders, and even to the prejudices of princes and lords 
temporal, against the privileges of the universities, — in 
fine, to the great cost of the people ; — this Society seems 
to blemish the honour of the monastic state ; it weakens 
entirely the painful, pious, and very necessary exer- 
cises of the virtues of abstinences, ceremonies, and 
austerity. It even gives occasion very freely to desert 
the religious orders ; it withdraws from the obedience 
and submission due to the ordinaries; it unjustly 
deprives lords, both temporal and ecclesiastical, of their 
rights, carries trouble into the government of both, 
causes many subjects of complaint amongst the people, 
many lawsuits, strifes, contentions, jealousies, and 
divers schisms and divisions. 

" Wherefore, after having examined all these mat- 
ters, and several others, with much attention and care, 
this Society appears dangerous as to matters of faith, 
capable of disturbiug the peace of the Church, over- 
turning the monastic order, and more adapted to break 
down than to build up." * 

Here, as in the denunciations of Cano, the faculty 
seem to have got a glimpse of the future history of the 
Jesuits, since, at that epoch at least, the accusation of 
receiving into the Society indiscriminately was not well 
founded. 

The apologists of the Jesuits have said — and we are 
partly inclined to admit the truth of their assertion — 
that as the Jesuits were then in possession of the edu- 
cation of youth in many parts of Europe, the univer- 
sity, jealous of its privileges, condemned the order of 
the Jesuits, not as an infamous and sacrilegious com- 
munity, but as a dangerous rival. They have also 

* Cret, vol. i. p. 320. 



88 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



affirmed, that the expulsion of the famous Postel* had 
irritated the Sorbonne, of which he was a doctor. But 
this we believe to be a gratuitous supposition. 

However, the decisions of the parliament, arch- 
bishop, and university, were hailed throughout France 
with a shout of jubilee. The Jesuits were obliged to 
leave Paris, and as all the parliaments of France had 
echoed the resolution of that of the capital, they would 
be nowhere received, and, as a last and momentary 
refuge, they went and hid themselves in the Abbey 
of St Germain des Pres. 

The more warlike and inconsiderate members of the 
order would have replied to the terrible sentence of 
the Sorbonne, but Ignatius was too consummate a poli- 
tician to yield to their imprudent desires. For open 
wars, the Jesuits had no predilection. When their op- 
ponents were too strong for them, their practice was, 
and still is, to give way, as if in submission ; but then 
they begin a hidden and mysterious war of intrigues 
and machinations, that in the end they are always 
the victors. So acted Ignatius in this affair in France. 
The Jesuits contented themselves with living for some 
time in obscurity and complete seclusion from all 
society, and preparing the way for future triumph. 
Nor had they long to wait. Soon were they called 
into France to help and cheer that atrocious and cruel 
hecatomb, that bloody debauch of priests and kings — 
the Saint Bartholomew. 

But what is worthy of more serious reflection, is the 
fact, that in Home — the centre of their power and 

* This Postel was a rabbin converted to Catholicism. He was very- 
learned, a graduate of the university, and held in high estimation by 
Francis I. and all his court. In 1545 he went to Rome to enter the 
Society of Gresu. This acquisition gave great joy to the Jesuits. Postel 
was very kindly received, and much nattered. He then went through 
the Spiritual Exercises; but this strange course of devotion affected his 
fervid imagination so much, that his faculties became impaired. He 
began to propound strange doctrines — to propose new rules for the 
Society ; and, above all, would by no means obey the orders of Ignatius. 
Loyola having no longer any hold upon him, dismissed him, for whicii 
act of firmness Loyola v s panegyrist extols him to the skies. 



FIRST OPPOSITION TO THE ORDER. 



89 



glory — the Jesuits were also publicly accused as a set 
of heretics, dangerous and immoral persons ; and the 
famous book of The Spiritual Exercises was submitted 
to the Inquisition. It is indeed true that this little 
manual got a certificate for orthodoxy, and that the 
priest who had traduced them before the tribunal, 
having to struggle alone against the Society, was con- 
demned (we don't wonder at it) as a calumniator ; but 
how can you, you subtle sons of Ignatius, explain this 
concurrence; this accumulation of accusations and 
hostilities? How is it that nations, separated from 
one another by diversities of interest, custom, opinion 
—that citizens of different classes, characters, princi- 
ples, interests — that all men and nations, widely sepa- 
rated in every thing else, united only by a common 
tie — the Catholic religion— should exactly agree in this 
one thing— hatred to and abhorrence of the avowed 
champion of Catholicism ? And remember we don't 
speak of Protestant countries, or Protestant oppo- 
nents. All your adversaries were bigoted Catholics. 
There is but one way to explain this strange coin- 
cidence. We fear that from the very beginning, the 
Jesuits, notwithstanding all their prudence, could not 
conceal from the eye of the observer those subtle arts, 
that duplicity of character, that skill in accomplishing 
dark and mysterious exploits, for which they were in 
later times opposed, and at length abolished. 

What is still more remarkable, is the fact that the 
greatest part of those persons who were foremost in 
opposing the Jesuits, knew Loyola, and, if not as inti- 
mately as Caraffa and Cano, at least well enough to 
be able to appreciate him. We shall adduce as the 
I last, though not the least fact, militating against 
the order — that Caraffa, a man of the most rigid 
Catholicism, nay, bigotry — who had nothing so near his 
heart as the furtherance of the Roman religion — the 
former friend of Loyola, both as cardinal and as Pope, 
was constantly and firmly adverse to the order. I 



90 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



should like if some of the reverend fathers would ex- 
plain this almost inexplicable fact. 

However, all these oppositions were sooner or later 
got rid of by Jesuitical craft ; and the Society, in 1556, 
only sixteen years after its commencement, counted as 
many as twelve provinces, a hundred houses, and up- 
wards of a thousand members, dispersed over the 
whole known world. Their two most conspicuous and 
important establishments were the Collegio Romano 
and the German College. They already were in pos- 
session of many chairs, and soon monopolised the right 
of teaching, which gave them a most overwhelming 
influence. We shall speak of the colleges, and of their 
method of study, after it had received from Acquaviva, 
the fifth General, a farther development, and nearly 
the same form in which it is at the present day. The 
Jesuits also derived great importance from their mis- 
sions, to the consideration of which we shall devote the 
next chapter. The reason of the immense success of 
the Jesuits is the fact, that their order was established 
in direct opposition to the rising Protestantism, and 
that both the court of Rome, and those princes whose 
interest it was to maintain the Catholic religion, and 
oppose that of the Reformed, were very eager to in- 
troduce and uphold the Society of Jesuits into their 
states. Yet even with this preponderant favourable 
circumstance, the Society would have either succumbed 
under the many obstacles it encountered in its begin- 
ning, or at least would not have progressed so rapidly, 
had it not been for Ignatius Loyola. This extraordi- 
nary man seems to have united in his own person 
all the qualities indispensable for succeeding in any 
undertaking; — unbounded ambition — inflexibility of 
character — unwearied activity, and a thorough and 
profound knowledge of the human heart. With such 
qualities, he could hardly fail to succeed in the ac- 
complishment of any project. Almost every writer of 
Loyola's life (I do not speak either of the miracle- 



FIRST OPPOSITION TO THE ORDER. 



91 



tellers or of the pamphleteers) has represented him 
as most sincere, fervidly devout, and pious. On this 
point, however, we must observe, that all the histo- 
rians, not excluding even the Protestant, copied from 
his two first biographers, Maffei and Rybadaneira. 

We also beg to be permitted to give the humble 
opinion which we have formed of him, after having 
carefully perused what has been said regarding him — 
and much more, after a dispassionate examination of 
the facts connected with his life. Without doubt, 
Ignatius, during his illness, felt disposed to change his 
dissipated course of life, and, as happens in every 
sudden reaction, he, from being a profligate freethink- 
ing officer, went to the other extreme, and became 
a rigid and bigoted anchorite. ISio penances were 
too severe to expiate his numerous sins, and no devo- 
tion was too fervent to atone for his past irreligion. 
So he thought at the moment, and, we think, con- 
scientiously. But after the first burst of his devotion 
— after the deep contemplation into which he was 
plunged had given place to the felt necessity of acting 
in one way or another, we are led to believe, and have 
already expressed that belief, that his natural ambi- 
tion rose, and that all his thoughts were turned upon 
the surest method of accomplishing some great and 
uncommon exploit, by which he might render himself 
famous. As devotion was the principal requisite for 
success in the path which he had chosen, Ignatius was 
a fervent devotee, first by calculation, and then by 
habit — but not the less zealous for all that. Had 
his whole thoughts been absorbed with that one object 
— the salvation of his soul — his devotion would have 
been less ostentatious, and, without wavering between 
one project and another, he would have been contented 
with an humble and retired life, or would have spent 
it in unquestionable works of charity — in ministering 
to the sick, as he had begun in the Hospital of the 
Theatines. It cannot be denied, however, that Ig- 



92 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



natius, after his conversion, was very humane, com- 
passionate, and charitable, and that his private con- 
duct, in the later part of his life, was moral and 
unimpeached. He treated his disciples with much 
kindness, and never denied them what he could grant 
without inconvenience. On the other hand, he was 
imperious to the last degree, and could not endure the 
slightest contradiction. An old Jesuit priest, who had 
been once guilty of disobedience, was scourged in his 
own presence. One instance will perhaps serve to 
depict Loyola more effectively than words can. He 
had sent Lainez as provincial to Padua. Lainez, who 
had had an immense success at the Council of Trent, 
and who was in fact superior to any one then be- 
longing to the Society, at first refused this secondary 
post, but at last obeyed. Hardly had he, however, 
entered upon his functions, before Ignatius drained his 
province of all the best professors, whom he summoned 
to Rome. The provincial remonstrated. It was the 
Lainez, Ignatius' bosom friend — his right hand — the 
glory of the company — the man who had been chosen 
to be a cardinal. But Ignatius disregarded all these 
considerations, and without even entering into any 
discussion, simply wrote to him, thus : " Reflect on 
your proceedings; tell me if you are persuaded of 
having erred, and if so, indicate to me what punish- 
ment you are ready to undergo for the expiation of 
your fault." * This letter pourtray s the man ! 

We are also assured, that the general was so 
humble, that you might have seen him carrying wood 
on his shoulders — lighting the common fire — or going 
to the well with a pitcher in his hand. We should 
be inclined to call such humility ostentation, or, if 
you prefer it, good policy. Ignatius was, above all, 
anxious to curb the spirit of his disciples. In his 
eyes, they could not be humble and submissive enough. 
The Jesuit ought to value himself, individually, as 

* Cretineau, vol. i. p 334. 



FIRST OPPOSITION TO THE ORDER. 



93 



nothing — the Society as everything. Now, which of 
his disciples would have dared refuse any undertaking, 
however humble, after he had seen his general en- 
gaged in the meanest services ? 

But while Ignatius affected these acts of humility, 
he was seriously giving his attention to the state affairs 
of different nations. He was holding correspondence 
with John III. of Portugal, the cardinal his son, 
Albert of Bavaria, Ferdinand of Austria, Philip of 
Spain, Ercole of Est, and many other princes. He 
was the spiritual director of Margaret of Austria. He 
went to Tivoli, purposely to allay the quarrels of two 
neighbouring towns, and to Naples to make peace 
between an angry husband and his wife of rather 
doubtful morals. All these things tend to prove what 
we have said regarding his devotion, viz. that it was 
of a rather meddlesome and ambitious character. 

But his career was now drawing to an end. These 
different occupations — the direction of both the spiritual 
and temporal matters of the order, which was already 
widely spread — the anxiety caused by the many con- 
flicts in which the Society was engaged — the fear of 
defeat — the joy arising from success — his unrelenting 
activity — his uneasiness at seeing the pontifical chair 
occupied by Caraffa, always adverse to the order — all 
these things contributed to shorten his days. His con- 
stitution, which had been impaired in his youth, and in 
the cavern of Manreze, now gradually gave way ; and 
although no symptom of his approaching end was yet 
visible, " no paleness of countenance, not a sign in all 
his body/'* nevertheless he felt the vital principle 
fading away within him, and that his last hour was 
rapidly drawing near. He tried the country air, and 
for this purpose went to a villa lately given by some 
friends for the use of the Eoman college,! but he found 
no relief. His strength was fast failing him ; an un- 
conquerable lassitude crept over his whole frame, and 

* Maffei, Ignat. Vita, p. 110. t Idem, p. 109. 



HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. 



his intellect only remained clear and unchanged. He 
spoke of his illness, nay, of his approaching end, to 
nobody. He returned to Rome, and threw himself 
upon a bed. A doctor was sent for by the alarmed 
fathers, but he bade them be of good cheer, " for there 
was nothing the matter with the general." Ignatius 
smiled; and when the physician was gone, he gave 
orders to his secretary, Polancus, to proceed to the holy 
father straightway to recommend the Society to his 
care, and to obtain a blessing for himself (Ignatius), 
and indulgences for his sins.* Perhaps he made this last 
attempt to disarm, by his humility, the inflexible Paul 
IV. (Caraffa), and so render him favourable to the 
Society. He was mistaken. Paul sent the requested 
benison, but he did not change his mind toward the 
Society. However, Polancus, reassured by the doc- 
tor, and not seeing any danger himself, disregarded 
the order, postponing the fulfilment of his mission till 
next day. Meanwhile, after Ignatius had attended 
till very late to some affairs concerning the Roman 
college, he was left alone to rest. But what was the 
surprise and consternation of the fathers, on enter- 
ing his room next morning, to find him breathing 
his last! The noise and confusion caused by such 
an unexpected event were great. Cordials, doctor, 
confessor, were immediately sent for ; but, before any 
of them came — before Polancus, who only now ran 
to the Pope, returned — Loyola had expired. His 
demise took place at five o'clock on the morning of the 
31st of July 1556, in his sixty-fifth year. So ended 
a man who is extolled by the one party as a saint, exe- 
crated by the other as a monster. He was neither. 
Most assuredly, in the Protestant point of view, and 
by all those who advocate the cause of freedom of con- 
science, and of a return to the purity of the primitive 
religion of Christ, Ignatius ought to be detested above 
any other individual. To him and to his order belongs 
* Orland. lib. xvi. § 96, 97. 



FIRST OPPOSITION TO THE ORBER. 95 

the mournful glory of having checked the progress of 
the Reformation, and of having kept a great part of 
Europe under the yoke of superstition and tyranny. 

And here we are led to mention a fact which we 
think has hitherto been unnoticed — the indulgence, 
we should say the partiality, evinced by Protestant 
writers for these last ten years towards the Jesuits, 
and especially the founders of the order. The fact 
must be explained. The Jesuits, from 1830 to the 
end of ? 48, seemed to have lost all public favour, all 
influence and authority. Persecuted and hooted in 
France, Switzerland, Russia, hated in their own domi- 
nion, Italy, they were considered as a vanquished enemy,, 
deserving rather commiseration than hatred. A reac- 
tion ensued in their favour among their most decided 
opponents. Generous souls rose up to defend these 
persecuted men, and stretched out a friendly hand to 
them, thus trodden upon by all. Carried away with 
such chivalrous sentiments, they have embellished, 
with the colours of their fervid imaginations and the 
graces of their copious style, whatever the Jesuit 
writers have related of their chiefs, and have repre- 
sented Loyola and his companions as heroes of romance 
rather than real historical characters. We leave these 
writers to reflect whether the Jesuits are a vanquished 
enemy, or whether they are not still redoubtable and 
menacing foes. But, with deference to such distin- 
guished writers as Macaulay, Taylor, Stephen, and 
others, we dare to assert that in writing about the 
Jesuits they were led astray by the above romantic 
sentiments ; and we should moreover warn them that 
their words are quoted by the Jesuit writers, Cretineau, 
Pellico, &c, as irrefragable testimony of the sanctity 
of their members. 



96 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



CHAFTER VII 

1541-1774. 
MISSIONS. 

Before we proceed any further, we feel obliged to say 
a few words regarding the missions which were under- 
taken by the Jesuits soon after the establishment of 
their order. To write a complete history would be 
almost interminable. To analyse Orlandini, Sacchini, 
Bartoli, Jouvency, the Litterce Annuce, and Les Let- 
tres Edifiantes, not to speak of a hundred others, 
would take up a great many volumes.* We think 
we may fill our pages with more instructive matter. 

We shall now confine ourselves to a short chapter 
on the missions of India. We shall next speak of those 
of America, and finally, in what condition the missions 
are at the present day. In speaking of the missions 
of India, we fear we shall incur the reproach we have 
addressed to others, because we frankly confess that 
we are partial to Francis Xavier ; but our Protestant 
readers, to be impartial, must not judge those missions 
by too rigid a standard, or by too constant a reference 
to the doctrinal errors of those who undertook them, 
furthermore, by the consideration of what those 
missions subsequently became. All human institutions 
emanating from imperfect beginnings, are necessarily 
imperfect, and the further they recede from their 

* The Litterce Annuce Societatis Jem, from 1606 to 1614, fill eight 
volumes in 8vo; the Lettres Edifiantes, twenty-one volumes in 8vo, 
and so on. 



MISSIONS. 



97 



origin, the more they lose of their primitive character, 
and the less are they calculated to answer the end for 
which they were established. The idle and immoral 
monk — this gangrene of Catholic countries — was at 
one time the most industrious of men ; and Europe owes 
much to the monastic orders, not only for the preser- 
vation of the greatest part of the works of genius of our 
forefathers, but also for the tillage of its barren wastes. 
If the monks and priests now bring disorder, confu- 
sion, and often civil war into the countries where they 
are sent under pretence of missions, such was not the 
case at the discovery of the Western World, and at 
the conquest of India by the Portuguese. The first 
zealous and devoted missionaries attempted to civilise 
and Christianise savage and barbarous populations. 
And if you object that in their missions they preached 
the Popish creed, and destroyed one idolatry by in- 
troducing another, at least you ought to give them 
credit for their good intentions. JNor are you to 
suppose that they undertook the task of civilising these 
nations in order to acquire dominion over them. No. 
Such, indeed, has been the case in later times, but in 
the beginning they were actuated by worthier and more 
disinterested motives. In going thither they had before 
their eyes martyrdom rather than worldly establish- 
ments. They carried with them no theological books. 
Having no antagonist to dispute with, they had left 
behind the acrimony and hatred inherent in almost 
all theological controversies. They brought with 
them the essence of the Christian religion — the most 
consoling and sublime part of it — gratitude to the 
Creator, with charity and love to their fellow-creatures. 
Undoubtedly, when we speak of their missions, we 
must not blindly believe all that the Jesuitical histo- 
rians, who are often the only chroniclers of these events, 
relate to us. We shall not give them credit for the 
prodigies and miracles said to be performed by their 
missionaries, even though that missionary be Xavier 



98 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



himself. We shall not believe that he raised from the 
tomb another Lazarus, or that at his bidding the salt 
waves of the ocean were changed into sweet and palat- 
able water. Yet there are irrefragable proofs of the 
good done by their exertions, and of their success in 
introducing Christianity, or at least civilisation, into 
India and America. The man who first engaged in 
that glorious work was Francis Xavier — Xavier, whom, 
if Rome had not dishonoured the name by conferring 
it upon assassins and hypocrites, we would gladly call 
a saint. 

He was the offspring of an ancient and illustrious 
Spanish family, and was born in 1506, at his father's 
castle in the Pyrenees. He was about the middle size, 
had a lofty forehead, large, blue, soft eyes, with an ex- 
quisitely fine complexion, and with the manners and 
demeanour of a prince. He was gay, satirical, of an 
ardent spirit, and, above all, ambitious of literary re- 
nown. All his faculties, all his thoughts, were directed 
to this noble pursuit, and so efficiently, that at the age 
of twenty-two he was elected a professor of philo- 
sophy in the capital of France. There he lived on 
terms of intimacy with Peter Lefevre, a young Savoy- 
ard, of very humble extraction, of a modest and simple 
character, but of uncommon intelligence and industry. 
It was with Lefevre that Xavier first met Ignatius. 
Francis was shocked at his appearance, his affected 
humility, his loathsome dress ; and when he spake of 
spiritual exercises, Xavier looked at his own fair, white 
arms, shuddered at the idea of lacerating them with 
the scourge — this principal ingredient of the spiritual 
exercises — and laughed outright in his face. But 
Ignatius, having cast his eyes upon such a noble 
being, was not to be discouraged by a first or second 
repulse in his endeavours to become intimate with him. 
He spared no exertions to ingratiate himself with 
Xavier ; and at last, as Bartoli says, " he resolved 
ot gain him over by firing his ambition, just as Judith 



MISSIONS. 



99 



did with feigned love to Holofernes, that she might 
triumph over him at the last." * As we have already- 
stated, Xavier was ambitious, and eager for literary 
renown. Ignatius made himself the eulogist of his 
countryman. He gathered around his chair a benevo- 
lent and an attentive audience, and gratified the young 
professor in his most ardent wishes. The generous 
heart of Xavier was touched by this act of kindness, and 
he began to look upon this loathsome man with other 
eyes. Ignatius redoubled his efforts. The improvident 
Xavier was often surrounded with pecuniary difficulties. 
Ignatius went begging, to replenish his purse. It was 
not wonderful that Xavier, having fallen under the 
Influence of such a persevering assailant, who was ad- 
monitor at once and friend — who flattered and exhorted, 
rebuked and assisted, with such matchless tact — should 
gradually have yielded to the fascination. He went 
through the Spiritual Exercises, and from that 
moment became a mere tool in the hands of Loyola. 
This was the first missionary sent to India. 

The order had not yet been approved by the Pope, 
when John III. of Portugal, by means of his ambas- 
sador D. Pedro de Mascaregnas, asked of him six mis- 
sionaries to be sent to the East Indies. The Pope, 
who was undecided whether he should consent to the 
establishment of this new order or not, thought this a 
plausible pretext to get rid of them altogether, and 
asked Loyola for six of his companions. But Ignatius 
was not the man to consent to the suicide of the intended 
Society, and offered the Pope only two members for 
the undertaking. The choice fell upon Rodriguez and 
Bobadilla. The first set out immediately, but Bobadilla 
falling ill, Ignatius called Xavier, and said to him, 
f< Xavier, I had named Bobadilla for India, but Heaven 
this day names you, and I announce it to you in the 
name of the Vicar of Jesus Christ. Receive the ap- 
pointment which his Holiness lays upon you by my 

* Bart. Vita Ign. 



100 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



mouth, just as if Jesus Christ presented it himself* 
Go, brother, whither the voice of God calls you, and in- 
flame all with the divine fire within you — Id y accen- 
dedlo todo y embrasadlo en fuego divino" Ignatius 
often used these words, and in his mouth they were a 
talisman which fanned the flame of enthusiasm. It is 
impossible to describe the exultation of Xavier at the 
thought of the boundless regions which would open 
before him there, to exercise his unbounded charity 
and love of mankind. Xavier went to receive the Pope's 
blessing, and the very next morning he left Rome — 
alone — penniless — clothed in a ragged cloak, but with 
a light heart and joyful countenance. He crossed the 
Pyrenees without even visiting his father's castle, and 
hastened to Lisbon, where he joined his companion 
Rodriguez. Portugal at this epoch was experiencing 
the influence of the wealth brought from the recently 
conquered provinces of India. Eagerness for pleasure, 
effeminacy of manners, relaxation from every duty, 
had completely changed the aspect of the nation. 
These two Jesuits, by exhortation and preaching, endea- 
voured to stem the onward march of that fast spread- 
ing corruption. Their panegyrists assure us that they 
succeeded in their efforts, but the subsequent history 
of Portugal gives them the lie. To no man is given 
the power to stop the propensities or the vices of a 
nation, when they are in the ascendancy. Xavier 
may perhaps have made the Portuguese nobility for 
a moment ashamed of their luxurious and profli- 
gate life ; but if so, a more complete abandonment 
to a life of idleness and pleasure succeeded a fugitive 
shame. 

However, the King of Portugal, changing his mind r 
wished to retain in the capital the two Jesuits whom 
he had intended for India, but he could only prevail 
on Rodriguez to remain. Xavier was impatient to be 
sent on his mission. At length, on the 7th of April 
1541, the fleet, having on board a thousand men to 



MISSIONS. 



101 



reinforce the garrison of Goa, left the Tagus, and 
spread her sails to the wind. It was under the com- 
mand of Don Alphonso of Sousa, the vice-king of India. 
As the fleet sailed on, the eyes of the soldiers were be- 
dimmed with tears ; even the bravest of the host could 
not see without emotion and dismay the shores of their 
native land receding from their view. Xavier alone 
was serene, and his countenance beamed with delight. 
On sailed the fleet, and after five long and weary 
months, they reached the coast of Mozambique. Un- 
der a burning African sutf, they found little relief from 
the fatigues of their tedious voyage, and an epidemic 
fever spread consternation and death among these 
European adventurers. Xavier was indefatigable 
among them, nursing the sick, consoling the dying, 
and cheering all with his joyful and placid counte- 
nance. 

After six months' stay, they left this inhospitable 
land, and arrived at Goa, the capital of the Portuguese 
dominions in India, thirteen months after their depar- 
ture from Lisbon. 

There Xavier was horror-struck at the indescriba- 
ble degradation in which he found, not the Indian 
idolaters, but the Portuguese Catholics, their own 
priests foremost in the path of vice. The contempt 
that these proud conquerors had for a feeble and 
despised race, the charm of the East, the wealth they 
found, the climate inspiring voluptuousness — all com- 
bined to banish from their breasts every sentiment 
of justice, shame, and honesty. The history of their 
debauches and immoralities is really revolting. Thirst 
for gold and voluptuousness were their two predomi- 
nant passions ; and the gold, acquired by infamous and 
cruel means, was dissipated in revolting and degrad- 
ing deeds. Bartoli gives us a fearful picture of the 
demoralised condition of the Portuguese in India.* 
But, without trusting implicitly to all this historian 

* Bart. Asia, p. 31. 
H 



102 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



represents regarding their corruptions and licentious- 
ness, we know by other sources that the corruption was 
extreme, and that it was their dissolute life that in- 
duced the Indians who had been converted to our 
religion, feeling ashamed of the name of Christian, to 
return to their idols. Xavier thought it would be use- 
less to attempt converting the idolater before he had 
reformed the morals of the Christian; but he consi- 
dered it neither prudent nor useful to attack so great 
an evil directly and openly. He rightly judged that 
the children would be most easily worked upon, and 
he resolved to reach this by exciting their love of 
novelties and unwonted sights. He arms himself with 
a hand-bell, which he swings with a powerful hand, 
throws away his hat, and calls in a loud and impres- 
sive tone on the fathers to send their children to be 
catechised. The novelty of the fact, the noble and 
dignified countenance of a man dressed in rags, could 
not fail to excite curiosity at least. Men, women, 
and children rush out to see this strange man, who 
draws along with him a crowd to the church, and there, 
with passionate and impressive eloquence, endeavours 
to inspire them with shame for their conduct, and 
lectures to them on the most essential rules of morality. 
Then he begins to teach the children the rudiments 
of the Christian religion, and these innocent creatures 
love to listen to a man who shews himself the kindest 
and gentlest companion, joyfully mixing in all their 
pastimes. A number of children soon became his 
constant auditors, and to say he did not work any good 
among them would be an untruth. JSTor did he confine 
his apostolic ministry to the instruction of children. 
He was, on the contrary, indefatigable in his exertions 
to be of use to every one. He took up his abode 
in the hospital, visited the prisoner, assisted the dying. 
With a flexibility characteristic of the system, and 
often employed for the worst ends, he mixed with all 
classes, and spoke and acted in the most suitable 



MISSIONS. 



103 



manner to please them all. Often might you have seen 
him at the same table with the gamester — often 
did he by his gay h amour rejoice the banquet table 
— often might he have been seen in the haunts of 
debauchees ; and in all those places exquisite good 
taste, combined with jest or bitter sarcasm, a-propos to 
time and place, rendered the vice either ridiculous or 
loathsome. Many, to enjoy Xavier's friendship, re- 
nounced their profligate habits, and fell back to the 
paths of virtue. But it is a gratuitous assertion, and 
contradicted by Xavier himself, that the aspect of the 
town was changed by his predications and catechis- 
ings. We repeat it again — no man has the power to 
work such miracles. After Xavier had spent twelve 
months in Goa, he heard that the pearl fishermen on 
the coast of Malabar were poor and oppressed. Thither 
Xavier went without delay. He took with him two 
Malabarese whom he had converted, as his interpeters. 
But finding this mode of communication slow and in- 
effectual, he committed to memory the creed, the 
decalogue, and the Lord's Prayer in the Malabar 
language, and repeated them to the natives with pas- 
sionate and eloquent eagerness. By degrees he began 
to be able to communicate with them ; and here, as else- 
where, Xavier not only acted the indefatigable apostle, 
but also shewed himself the best friend, the kindest 
consoler of these poor people, and shared in their 
fatigues and privations. Many were the favours which 
he obtained for them from the vice-king, and these 
grateful fishermen willingly embraced the religion 
preached by their benefactor. He lived among them 
for thirteen months, and we are assured that at his 
departure he had planted no less than forty-five 
churches on the coast. From Cape Comorin he passed 
to Travancore, thence to Meliapore, to the Moluccas, 
to Malacca; and, in short, he visited a great part of 
India, always vigilant, zealous, and indefatigable in 



104 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



Ills endeavours to make these idolaters partake of the 
benefits of the Christian religion. 

In 1547 he returned to Goa. Ignatius had sent 
him in the year 1545 three Jesuits. Xavier had 
directed two of them to go to Cape Comorin, and 
named the third, Lancillotti, Professor of the College 
of Saint Foi. Soon after, nine other Jesuits were sent 
to assist him. Xavier assigned a place and an occu- 
pation to each of them, and he himself returned to 
Malacca. Here he learned something about Japan. 
He was informed that the Japanese were moral, indus- 
trious, and very eager to acquire knowledge of every 
kind, Xavier at once determined that neither the dis- 
tance nor the difficulties of the way should deter him 
from visiting Japan. Listening to no remonstrance 
which would have dissuaded him from this undertaking, 
lie named the Jesuit, Paul of Camarino, Superior in his 
place, and with two companions set out for Japan. 

Before leaving Malacca he wrote to Ignatius thus : — 
" I want words to express to you with what joy I un- 
dertake this long voyage, full of the greatest dangers. 
Although these dangers are greater than all I have 
yet encountered, I am far from giving up my under- 
taking, our Lord telling me internally that the cross 
once planted here will yield an abundant harvest." 

We shall not relate the various extraordinary inci- 
dents or miracles which we are told he performed 
whilst on the way, and we shall conduct him at once 
to that cluster of islands, with mountains barren of 
fruits and grain, but rich in mines of all sorts, which 
we call Japan, where he arrived in the summer of 
1549. The Japanese of those days w r ere partly 
atheists, partly idolaters. Xavier endeavoured to 
ingratiate himself with the Bonzes, those crafty priests 
of Japan. He succeeded in converting some of them, 
and by their influence a great many more of the idola- 
ters, and prepared the ground which should afterwards 



MISSIONS. 



105 



have produced an abundant harvest, if this lather's 
successors had possessed a little more of his upright- 
ness and charity. 

But Xavier's vivid imagination and restless activity 
made him soon desert Japan for a more ample and 
splendid theatre. He formed the project of pene- 
trating into the Celestial Empire. Leaving his two 
companions in Japan, he returned to Goa to settle the 
affairs of the Society, which had increased in num- 
bers, influence, and authority; and this duty performed, 
he returned to Malacca, to embark from thence for 
China. 

Better to succeed in his undertaking, he had ob- 
tained for a Portuguese merchant, Pereyra, the title 
of ambassador to the emperor. Pereyra, according to 
custom, had purchased many presents, in order to 
obtain a more cordial reception for himself and his 
friend Xavier. The vessel in which the two friends 
were to take a passage was on the point of sailing, 
when Don Alvarez, Captain-General of Malacca, op- 
posed their departure, and, effectually to prevent it, laid 
an embargo on the Saint Croix, the only vessel which 
was bent thither. Xavier remonstrated in vain. The 
captain persisted in opposing the embassy of Pereyra. 
Xavier shewed him the commission of John III., which 
conferred upon him great and almost unlimited power, 
and also his commission as the Pope's legate. Alvarez 
still refused to consent to their departure, and Xavier 
fulminated against him the anathemas, but without any 
effect. 

Pereyra was thus obliged to remain, and Xavier, 
after having lost much time, took a passage in this same 
vessel, which was now ordered for the island of San- 
cian. There they at length landed, to the inexpres- 
sible joy of Xavier, who saw himself within a few 
leagues of this promised land of his own. But, alas ! 
his hopes were frustrated. It was ordained that his 
praiseworthy ambition should not be gratified, and 



106 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



that he should not see the vast empire he aspired to 
conquer to Christianity, but at a distance. Others 
might attempt this difficult mission ; Xavier, a victim 
to fatigue and fever, lay powerless on the inhospitable 
shore of Sancian. In a very few days his illness made 
fearful progress, and on the 2d of December 1552, 
Xavier, in the forty-sixth year of his age, breathed 
his last. Thus ended the adventurous life of this 
noble and extraordinary man, which we have merely 
sketched. 

We pass over the absurd and miraculous facts which 
the panegyrists of the saint have coupled with his 
name. We think they have injudiciously smothered, 
in ridiculous and supernatural legends, the many noble 
exploits and the great qualities of Xavier. In respect 
for his memory, we shall therefore make no mention of 
his miracles. Besides, Xavier's miracles are as nearly 
as possible the same as those performed by other saints. 
We really believe that the biographers of any saint 
might do like that gentleman who, after having writ- 
ten a long letter without either comma, colon, period, 
or point of interrogation, put down a great quantity of 
these at the close of the epistle, and enjoined his cor- 
respondent to insert them in their requisite places. Our 
biographers should, in like manner, place at the end of 
their panegyrics some hundreds of miracles performed 
on the sick, or the blind, or those possessed with devils, 
and let the judicious reader insert them in those parts 
of the narrative they may think proper.* 

No one, however, will deny to Xavier uprightness 

* For nearly two centuries, miracles and saints rarely occurred. It 
seems as if they were in a state of embryo, slumbering until an oppor- 
tune season for their appearance should arrive. After the Reformation, 
however, it was deemed expedient that some new miracles and saints 
should come forth to prove the truth and the superiority of the Roman * 
Catholic religion over the Protestant, which cannot boast of such testi- 
monials. It was then that the images of the Virgin Mary again began 
to speak, laugh, weep — that the hair of the images on the crucifix grew 
— that they shed blood from their wooden sides — that the relics of saints 
acted as a charm to keep away diseases and misfortunes — and that uew 
saints sprang into existence like mushrooms. 



MISSIONS. 



107 



of purpose, sincerity of conviction, mildness and in- 
trepidity of character, self-denial, and a fervid zeal for 
the propagation of the Christian religion. But while 
we gladly give him praise for his excellent qualities, we 
cannot overlook some of his defects. Thus, for exam- 
ple, we cannot approve of his continual wandering, 
and we think, that in undertaking his voyages, he was 
actuated, perhaps, as much by the love of novelty as 
by the desire of propagating Christianity. His way 
of making Christians was also in the highest degree in- 
considerate and hasty ; for, most assuredly, the 10,000 
idolaters whom he christened in a single month, had 
no more of the Christian than the baptism. 

But we must impute to him a still greater fault, 
and one which seems to be inherent in the character 
of the Romish priests — the absolute authority which 
they claim over all men, and their unscrupulous pro- 
ceedings against any one who is bold enough to resist 
their orders — nay, their very wishes. Observe. Don 
Alphonso de Sonza, vice-king of India, although an 
exemplary Roman Catholic, because he does not yield 
to all Xavier's wishes, the Jesuit writes to the king and 
procures his recall ! Alvarez opposes the embassy of 
Pereyra, which Xavier had contemplated, and for this 
the Jesuit priest excommunicates him ! These two acts 
are characteristic of the Romish priests, and we quote 
them to shew that efen the mildest does not hesitate 
at anything, in order to carry his point. 

However, in the time of Xavier, and for some fifty 
years afterwards, the missions, if they were far from 
what they ought to have been, as instrumental for pro- 
pagating the gospel, were nevertheless conducted in a 
manner not altogether unpraiseworthy. The mission- 
aries were laborious, energetic, indefatigable. They 
submitted to every kind of privation, persecution, even 
death itself, with a courageous and sometimes joy- 
ful and willing heart. Had they simply preached the 
gospel, and not mingled with it the diffusion of the 



HISTriiY OF THE JESUITS. 



superstitious practices of the Church of Rome, no praise 
would be adequate to their deserts. But, alas! the noble 
qualities which they brought to work were soon per- 
verted, and directed to interested and impure motives, 
so that we fear the good which they did at first can 
hardly compensate for the evil which they at length 
produced. 

The man who after Xavier had the greatest suc- 
cess in India, but who also perverted the character 
of the mission, and introduced the most abominable 
idolatry, was Father Francis Nobili. He arrived at 
Madura in 1606, and was surprised that Christianity 
had made so little progress in so long a time, which 
he attributed to the strong aversion which the Indian 
had for the European, and to the fact, that the Jesuits, 
having addressed themselves more especially to the 
Pariahs, had caused Christ to be considered as the Pa- 
riahs' God.* He therefore resolved to play the part of 
a Hindoo and a Brahmin. After having learned with 
wonderful facility their rites, their manners, and their 
language,| he gave himself out as a Saniassi, a Brah- 
min of the fourth and most perfect class ; and, with 
imperturbable impudence, he asserted that he had come 
to restore to them the fourth road to truth, which 
was supposed to have been lost many thousands of 
years before. He submitted to their penances and 
observances, which were very painful ; abstained from 
everything that had life, such as fish, flesh, eggs; J 
respected their prejudices, and, above all, the main- 
tenance of the distinction of classes. It was forbidden 
the Uleehumen Pariah to enter the same church with 
the Sudra or Brahmin converts. All this was the 
beginning of those heathen ceremonies and superstitions, 
with which the Christian religion was contaminated. 

Great care was taken by these .Roman Saniassi 

* Ranke's Hist, of the Popes, vol. ii. p. 231, English translation. 
+ Jnvencius' Hist. Soc. Jesu, pars v. torn. ii. lib. xviii. 
X Lettres Edifiantes, torn. x. p. 324. 



MISSIONS. 



109 



that they might not be taken for Feringees* and still 
greater care not to hurt the prejudices of the Hindoos. 
We might multiply quotations ad infinitum to prove 
our assertions, but we shall content ourselves with two. 
" Our whole attention/ 5 writes Father de Bourges, " is 
taken up in our endeavour to conceal from the people 
that we are what they call Feringees ; the slightest 
suspicion of this would prove an insurmountable ob- 
stacle to our success." f And Father Mauduit writes, — 
" The catechist of a low caste can never be employed 
to teach Hindoos of a caste more elevated. The Brah- 
mins and the Sudras, who form the principal and most 
numerous castes, have a far greater contempt for the 
Pariahs, who are beneath them, than princes in Europe 
can feel for the scum of the people. They would be 
dishonoured in their own country, and deprived of the 
privileges of their caste, if they ever listened to the 
instructions of one whom they look upon as infamous. 
We must, therefore, have Pariah catechists for the 
Pariahs, and Brahminical catechists for the Brahmins, 
which causes us a great deal of difficulty." " Some 
time ago, a catechist from the Madura mission begged 
me to go to Pouleour, there to baptize some Pariah 
catechumens, and to confess certain neophytes of that 
caste. The fear that the Brahmins and Sudras might 
come to learn the step I had taken, and thence look 
upon me as infamous and unworthy ever of holding 
any intercourse with them, hindered me from going ! 
The words of the holy apostle Paul, which I had read 
that morning at mass, determined me to take this re** 
solution, — £ Giving no offence to any one, that your 
ministry might not be blamed' (2 Cor. vi. 3). I 
therefore made these poor people go to a retired place, 
about three leagues from here, where I myself joined 
them during tlie night, and with the most careful 
w precautions, and there I baptized nine ! " % 

* Feringee was the name given by the Hindoos to the Portuguese, 
t Lettres Edif. torn. xxi. p. 77. X Idem, torn. x. pp. 243-245. 



110 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



We appeal to every impartial man, if these were 
apostles and teachers of the gospel. But it seems by- 
all their proceedings, that they considered the conver- 
sion of these idolaters to consist in the mere fact of 
their being baptized. To administer baptism to a man 
volens nolens, was the Jesuits' utmost ambition, and 
this ambition they satisfied per fas et nefas. Let them 
relate the facts themselves : — 

" When these children," says Father de Bourges, 
" are in danger of death, our practice is to baptize 
them without asking the permission of their parents, 
which would certainly be refused. The catechists and 
the private Christians are well acquainted with the 
formula of baptism, and they confer it on these dying 
children, tinder the pretext of giving them medicines."* 

Women were also found very useful in the case of 
newly born infants, when none other could obtain ac- 
cess. Father Bouchet mentions one woman in parti- 
cular, " whose knowledge of the pulse and of the 
symptoms of approaching death was so unerring, that 
of more than ten thousand children whom she had 
herself baptized, not more than two escaped death." ~\ 
In like manner, during a famine in the Carnatic, about 
a.d, 1737, Father Trembloy writes, that according to 
the report of the catechists and missionaries, the num- 
ber of deserted and dying children baptized during 
the two years of death, amounted to upwards of twelve 
thousand. He adds, that, as every convert knew the 
formula of baptism, it was rare, in any place where 
there were neophytes, for a single heathen child to 
die iinbaptized" \ 

The logical consequence of this mode of making 
Christians was, that at the first opportunity these con- 
verts repudiated the name of Christian with as much 
facility as they assumed it. This was seen on many 
occasions, and more particularly, perhaps, in 1784 : — 

* Lettres Edifiantes, torn, xii. p. 107. 
f Tom. xiii. p. 54. X Tom. xiv. pp. 185, 186. 



MISSIONS. 



Ill 



" When Tippoo ordered all the native Christians in 
Mysore to be seized, and gathered together in Seringa- 
patam, that he might convert them to Mahometanism, 
amidst that vast multitude, amounting to more than 
60,000 souls," says the Abbe Dubois, " not one — not 
a single individual among so many thousands — had 
courage to confess his faith under this trying circum- 
stance, and become a martyr to his religion. The 
whole apostatised en masse, and without resistance or 
protestation." * 

But even when these converts retained the name of 
Christian, we are much at a loss to distinguish them 
from the pagans, either in their manner of worship, or 
in their moral conduct. And what is still more dis- 
heartening, is to see that the Jesuits, who nourished 
them in those idolatrous and diabolical superstitions 
make light of them — nay, even seem to approve of 
them. 

Listen to M. Cretineau : — 

" The Malabar rites consist in omitting some cere- 
monies in the administration of baptism, respecting, 
however, the essence of the sacrament ; in disguising 
the name of the Cross, and of the objects of the Catho- 
lic religion, under a more common and vernacular 
appellation ; to give them heathen names ; to marry 
children before the age of puberty, seven years ; to 
allow the women to wear the Taly (bijou), f which they 
receive the day of their nuptials, and upon which is 
engraved an idol, the Greek god Priapus ; to avoid 
assisting the Pariahs in their illness, and to refuse 
them certain spiritual succours — the sacraments of 
confession and communion." \ He might have added 
that these rites consisted also in the use of burned 

* Letters on the State of Christianity in India, p. 74. London, 1823. 

+ The Taly bears the image of the god Pollyar, supposed to preside 
over nuptial ceremonies. This most indecent idol was attached to a 
cord of 108 threads, and worn round their necks by the women ever after 
their marriage, as a wedding-ring. 

X Cret. vol. v. p. 47. The italics are our own. 



112 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS, 



cows' dung applied to the body,* in a joyous feast, 
at an occasion which decency forbids us to name, in 
dancing and playing instruments of different kinds, 
in idol processions, in ablutions according to the Brah- 
minical rites, and in sundry other pagan superstitions. 
jNow, listen to what Cretineau and the Jesuits think 
about these abominable acts of idolatry : — 

" The Jesuits of Madura, Mysore, and the Carnatic 
found themselves surrounded by so many superstitious 
practices, that they thought best to tolerate those ivho 
in their eyes did not cause any prejudice to the Chris- 
tian religion." \ Now, these practices which in their 
eyes " did not cause any prejudice to the Christian 
religion," were exactly those which we have named ; 
which the Jesuits pertinaciously maintained even after 
they were condemned by three successive Popes, and 
which they still considered " innocent ones." Really, 
we don't know whether we ought most to execrate 
their wickedness, or to lament their blindness. We 
could almost regret that they do not deny these facts. 
A lie more or less would not matter much in the sum 
total, and would, at least, shew that they are still 
alive to some sense of shame. Mycio, seeing Eschi- 
nus blush at his remonstrances, looks complacently 
aside, and says, " Erubuit, salva res est /" Terentius 
was right. Eschinus was capable of feeling shame, and 
amended; but the Jesuits blush not. Either they 
have lost all shame, and you would not find — 

(< Chi di mal far si vergogni" — 

* The ashes of the cows' dung are consecrated to the goddess Lakshini, 
and are supposed to cleanse from sin anybody to whom they are applied. 
The missionaries laid these ashes upon the altar near the crucifix (horrid 
to relate !) or the image of the Virgin, then consecrated and distributed 
them in the shape of little balls among their converts. This strange sort 
of Christians invoked a pagan divinity as often as they applied the dung 
to the body. Thus, when they rub it on the head or forehead, they say, 
Neruchigurm netchada Shiven — that is, may the god Shiva be within 
my head ; when they rub it on the breast, they say, If emu Rudren — > 
that is, may the god Rudren be in my breast ; and so on. — See Memoir e& 
Historiques, torn. iii. pp. 29, 30. Lucca, 1745. 

f Cret. vol. v. p. 47. 



MISSIONS. 



113 



" any one blush at doing wrong," or they consider as 
innocent the most abominable profanation of our holy 
religion. In both cases, I fear, we must renounce all 
idea of seeing them change till their impenitent heads 
be visited by the wrath of God. May their conversion 
avert it ! 

Complaints of these scandalous profanations were 
sent to Rome, even in the lifetime of Nobili. Paul V. 
delegated the Archbishop of Goa to inquire into the 
nature of these practices, which the prelate utterly 
condemned. The Jesuits stirred themselves up in 
their own defence, and represented to Gregory XIII., 
Paul's successor, that those rites were merely civic 
ceremonies, and not at all religious ones. Gregory, 
either little scrupulous or persuaded by their misre- 
presentations, by a brief, dated 1623, approved con- 
ditionally of some of those practices, such as absolution, 
painting with sandal-wood, and some others, which, as 
we said, were represented by the Jesuits to be merely 
civic ceremonies. This success confirmed the Jesuits in 
pursuing the same line of policy ; and as they were also 
at that time at war with other monks to acquire, each 
for his order, paramount influence over the Indians, 
they thought that nothing could be more efficient to 
accomplish their ends than to flatter the prejudices 
of their neophytes, to be liberal in their concessions, 
and, in fact, to tolerate almost all the pagan usages. 
They acted in India, in all respects, as they did in 
Europe, where, to be the confessors of kings and of 
the powerful, they invented the doctrines of probable- 
ism, of mental reservation, and others of a character as 
immoral, which we shall examine by and by. For 
eighty years, therefore, they went from one abomina- 
tion to another, till the scandal became so great and 
so universal, that the Roman See was again moved to 
interfere. Accordingly, Clement XL delegated Charles 
JVlaillard de Tournon, Patriarch of Antioch, with un- 
limited authority to investigate into and settle the 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



matter. The patriarch is described by Clement XI. as 
" a man whose well-known integrity, prudence, charity, 
learning, piety, and zeal for the Catholic religion made 
him worthy of the highest trust;" and, according to 
Cretineau, " a man who possessed the highest' virtues 
and best intentions, which, however, should have been 
directed by a less intemperate zeal." * 

He landed at Pondicherry on November 6, 1703, 
and immediately commenced a thorough and minute 
investigation of the whole affair. After eight months, 
he, on June 23, 1704, published the famous decree con- 
demning and prohibiting all these idolatrous practices ; 
although the noble prelate, a good Roman Catholic as 
he was, is not altogether free from superstition, as 
may be seen in the decree itself. Here are some ex- 
tracts from it : — 

" Charles Thomas Maillard de Tournon, by the 

grace of God .... Legate a latere, &c having 

maturely examined all things, .... having heard the 
above mentioned fathers (the Jesuits), having by public 
prayers implored divine aid ; we, .... in our capacity 
of Legate a latere, have enacted the present de- 
cree : — 

" And to begin by the administration of the sacra- 
ment. We expressly forbid that, in administering bap- 
tism, any of the Christian rites are to be omitted. . . . 
We command, moreover, that a name of the Roman 
martyrology be given to the catechumen, and not an 
idolatrous one. . . . . We order that no one, under any 
pretext whatever, shall change the signification of 
the names of the cross, of the saints, or of any other 
sacred thing. . . . . 

" Further, as it is the custom of this country that 
children, six or seven years old, and sometimes even 
younger, contract, with the consent of their parents, 
an indissoluble marriage, by the hanging of the Taly, 
or golden nuptial emblem, on the neck of the bride, 
* Cret. vol. v. p. 50. 



MISSIONS. 



115 



we command the missionaries never to permit such 
invalid marriages among Christians. 

" And since, according to the best informed adhe- 
rents of that impious superstition, the Taly bears the 
image, though unshapely, of Pullear, or Pillear, the 
idol supposed to preside over nuptial ceremonies ; and 
since it is a disgrace for Christian women to wear such 
an image round their necks, as a mark that they are 
married, we henceforth strictly prohibit them from 
daring to have the Taly with this image suspended 
from their necks. But, lest wives should seem not to 
be married, they may use another Taly, with the 
image of the holy cross, or of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
or of the most blessed Virgin, marked on it! 

" The nuptial ceremonies also, according to the cus- 
tom of the country, are so many, and defiled by so 
much superstition, that no safer remedy could be de- 
vised than to interdict them altogether ; for they over- 
flow with the pollutions of heathenism, and it would 
be extremely difficult to expurge them from that which 
is superstitious 

" In like manner, we cannot suffer that these offices 
of charity which Gentile physicians, even of a noble 
race or caste, do not consider unworthy (for the health 
of the body) to be given to those poor people, the 
Pariahs, although in the most abject and lowest con- 
dition, be denied, for the sake of souls, by spiritual 
physicians. Wherefore, we strictly enjoin the mission- 
aries, as far as they can, to see that no opportunity 
for confession be awanting to any sick Christian, al- 
though he be a Pariah, or even of a more despised 
race, if there were. And lest they should be compelled 
to consult for their eternal welfare, when the disease 
is increasing, and their temporal life is in evident dan- 
ger, we charge the missionaries not to wait till those 
in this weak condition are brought to church, but, as 
far as they are able, to seek for them at home, to visit 
them, and to comfort them with pious discourses and 



116 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



prayers, and with sacramental bread ; and, in short, 
to administer extreme unction to them, if they are 
about to die, without making any distinction in persons 
or sexes, expressly condemning every practice contrary 

to the duty of Christian piety 

" We have learned with the greatest sorrow, also, 
that Christians who can beat the drum, or play on a 
flute, or other musical instruments, are invited to per- 
form during the festivals and sacrifices in honour of 
idols, and sometimes even compelled to attend, on ac- 
count of some species of obligation supposed to be con- 
tracted towards the public by the exercise of such a 
profession, and that it is by no means easy for the 
missionaries to turn them from this detestable tbuse ; 
wherefore, considering how heavy an account we should 
have to render to God did we not strive, with all our 
power, to recall such Christians as these from the 
honouring and worshipping of devils, we forbid 
them," &c. 

" The missionaries also shall be held bound, not only 
to acquaint them with the aforesaid prohibition, but 
also to insist on its entire * execution, and to expel 
from the Church all who disobey, until they repent 
from the heart, and by public marks of penitence ex- 
piate the scandal they have caused." 

In like manner, the legate expressly prohibits the 
heathen ablutions and superstitious bathings, at set 
times, and with certain ceremonies, to all, and more 
especially to the preachers of the gospel, whatever 
pretence they allege, were it even to pass themselves 
off as Saniassi, who were distinguished by their mani- 
fold and multiplied washings — 6 ut existementur Sanias 
seu Brachmanes, prae ceteris dediti hujusmodi ablu- 
tionibus/ 

" We, in like manner, prohibit that the ashes of 
cow-dung, a false and impious heathen penance insti- 
tuted by Rudren, should be blessed and applied to the 
foreheads of those who have received the sacred unction 



MISSIONS. 



117 



of Chrism ; we also proscribe all the signs of a red and 
white colour, of which the Indians are very supersti- 
tious, from being used for painting their face, breast, 
and other parts of the body. We command that the 
sacred practice of the Church, and the pious usage of 
blessing the ashes, and of putting them upon the head of 
the faithful, with the sign of the cross, in order to re- 
call their own unworthiness, be religiously observed, 
at the time and after the manner prescribed, by the 
Church, on Ash-Wednesday, and at no other time. 

" And, lest from those things which have been ex* 
pressly prohibited in this decree, any one may infer 
or believe that we tacitly approve of or permit other 
usages which were wont to be practised in these mis- 
sions, we absolutely reject this false interpretation, and 
we explicitly declare the contrary to be our intention. 
We will, also, for just causes known to us, that the 
present decree should have full force, and should be 
considered as published, after it has been delivered 
up by our Chancellor to Father Guy Tachard, Vice- 
provincial of the French Fathers of the Society of Jesus 
in India; and we command him, by virtue of holy 
obedience, to transmit four similar copies to the Father- 
provincial of the province of Malabar, to the Superiors 
of the Mission at Madura and Mysore, and of the 
Carnatic, who after two months, and all the other mis- 
sionaries after three months, from the day in which 
this decree shall be notified to Father Tachard, shall 
be bound to consider it as having been made public, 
and notified to every one. 

" Given at Pondicherry, this day, 23d June 
1704" 

Nothing can more effectually prove the culpability 
of the Jesuits, and their sacrilegious crime, in encou- 
raging such abominable idolatry, than this decree, ema- 
nating from so high a lioman Catholic authority, and 
from a man who reproaches himself for being too lenient 

i 



118 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



towards the fathers. This document is a terrible and 
overwhelming proof against the order's orthodoxy, and 
M. Cretineau himself can find no fault with it. His 
only complaint is, that the different historians who have 
quoted the prelate's decree, have omitted to speak of 
the preamble, in which the patriarch declares that he 
had been assisted in the investigation by two of the 
Jesuits, from which fact he (M. Cretineau) seems 
anxious that we should infer that the Jesuits them- 
selves have condemned these practices. This, besides 
being contradictory to what M. Cretineau has just 
said, is by no means true in the sense in which he 
wishes us to receive it. According to Father Nor- 
bert's version,* it seems that the patriarch arrived at 
the truth of the whole matter by making use of a little 
Jesuitical cunning. He called two of the fathers to a 
private conference, received them with great kindness 
and urbanity, praised their zeal, pitied them in their 
difficult position, and so overcame them, that they 
frankly confessed every thing to him. Now, their 
confession was written down by two secretaries, who 
were concealed in a closet for the purpose. The supe- 
rior, to whom the Jesuits related what had taken place, 
was indignant and alarmed at their wonderful inge- 
nuousness, and sent them back to the prelate to retract 
what they had said.f But it was too late. The legate, 
to give more weight to the decree, begins somewhat 
maliciously by saying, that he had been helped in his 
investigation by Fathers Venant Bouchet and Charles 
Bartolde, " learned and zealous men, who had resided 
long in the country, were perfectly acquainted with 
its manners, language, and religion, and that from 

* Father Norbert was a Capuchin missionary in India, who presented 
to Pope Benedict XIV. a book entitled, Memoires Historiques sur Its 
Missions des Indes Orientales. The work is illustrated with authentic 
documents. > It was published with the approbation of all the ecclesias- 
tical authorities, and never contradicted. Still, we will not quote Father 
Norbert as a proper authority, unless what he relates can be corrobo- 
rated by other proofs. 

+ Mem. Hist. torn. prim. p. 142. 



MISSIONS. 



119 



their lips he had got a right understanding regarding 
the real state of matters, which rendered the vine and 
branches feeble and barren, from adhering, as they 
did, rather to the vanities of the heathen than to the 
real vine, Christ Jesus." 

What makes us believe in the veracity of Father 
Norbert in this case is, that the Jesuits never submit- 
ted to the decree, that they still continued to persist 
in their old practices, and that neither Father Bouchet 
nor Bartolde was punished or dismissed, one or other 
of which would most certainly have taken place had 
they deliberately and openly denounced these diaboli- 
cal practices. On the contrary, Father Bouchet was 
one of the two Jesuits who were sent to Rome to get 
the decree abrogated. 

The Jesuits, however, did their utmost to parry 
the blow. Faithful to an essential rule of J esuitical 
cunning, they at first feigned to submit, only entreat- 
ing the patriarch to suspend for a time the censures 
attached to the non-execution of the decree, which the 
good prelate granted for three years, hoping that they 
would obey, and abolish these abominations gradually. 
But they were far from intending to do such a thing. 
On the contrary, they, as we have already said, immedi- 
ately despatched two Jesuits to Rome, for the purpose 
of getting the patriarch's decree abrogated by the 
Holy See. Father Tachard, the vice-provincial of the 
India missions, thought that it would perhaps make a 
great impression in Rome if, to the opinion of the 
legate De Tournon they could oppose the opinion, 
not only of all the Jesuits residing in India, but also 
of the other priests along the Malabar coast. With 
this end in view, he sent many emissaries round with 
a sort of circular containing a number of questions, to 
which he solicited answers, and these, as might be ima- 
gined, were all found to be according to his wishes. 
This strange circular is to be found in the eighth and 
tenth pages of the third volume of the Memoires His- 



120 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



toriques. Did not subsequent facts and the whole 
conduct of the Jesuits render it credible, we should 
have hesitated to insert it as an historical truth, so 
strange does the document appear to us. Here it is: — 

" I. Is the frequent use of ashes (burnt cow's dung) 
necessary for the Christians of these missions I They 
answered in the affirmative. 

" II. As the Pariahs are looked upon in a civil light 
as so despicable that it is almost impossible to describe 
how far the prejudice is carried against them, ought 
they to assemble in the same place, or in the same 
church, with other Christians of a higher caste ? They 
answered in the negative. 

" III. Are the missionaries obliged to enter into the 
houses of the Pariahs to give them spiritual succour, 
while there are other means of arriving at the same 
end, as is remarked elsewhere? They answered in 
the negative. 

" IV. Ought we, in the said missions, to employ 
spittle in conferring the sacrament of baptism ? They 
answered in the negative. 

" V. Ought we to forbid the Christians to celebrate 
those brilliant and joyous fetes which are given by 
parents when their young daughters 6 ont pour la pre- 
miere fois la maladie des mois?' They answered in 
the negative. 

" VI. Ought we to forbid the custom observed at 
marriages of breaking the cocoa-nut I They answered 
in the negative. 

" VII. Ought the wives of the Christians to be 
obliged to change their Taly or nuptial cord ? They 
ansivered in the negative" 

And he, Father Tachard, was not content with the 
mere signature ; he wanted, also, a solemn oath — 

" I, John Venant Bouchet, priest of the Society of 
Jesus, and Superior of the Carnatic Mission, do testify 
and swear, on my faith as priest, that the observance 
of the rites, as set forth in the preceding answers, is 



MISSIONS. 



121 



of the greatest necessity to these missions, as well for 
their preservation as for the conversion of the heathen. 
Further, it appears to me, that the introduction of any 
other usage contrary to these, would be attended 

WITH EVIDENT DANGER TO THE SALVATION OE THE SOULS 

of the neophytes. Thus I answer the reverend 
father superior general, who orders me to send him 
my opinion as to these rites, and to confirm it by an 
oath, for assurance and faith of which I here sign my 
name. Signed, Nov. 3, 1704, in the Mission of the 
Carnatic. Jean Venant Bouchet." 

Fathers Peter Mauduit, Philip cle la Fontaine, Peter 
de la Lane, and Gilbert le Petit took the same oath, 
and attested it by their signatures, and after like 
fashion swore all the Portuguese Jesuits in Madura 
and Mysore. 

Whilst two Jesuits were dispatched to Rome with this 
document, F. Tachard set another battery at work. The 
Bishops of Goa and of St Thomas were creatures of 
the Jesuits, and altogether devoted to their interest. 
At the instigation of the fathers, they, respectively, 
published an ordinance, by which, on their own autho- 
rity, they annulled the decree of the legate, under the 
specious pretext that they were not satisfied that this 
prelate's power and authority were sufficient to enact it. 
The Bishop of Goa, to whom the Pope had sent De 
Tournon as his representative, to whom he had grant- 
ed full and unlimited power, went still further, and 
had the impudence to write to the Pope, telling him 
that he, the bishop, had annulled the decree of the 
patriarch, not knowing that he had power to publish it. 

The Pope was highly incensed, both against the 
bishops and Jesuits, and on the 4th January 1707 
he fulminated a brief against the bishop's declaration 
regarding De Tournon's decree, giving his full sanction 
to the legate's decision in all its parts. At the same 
time he wrote a terrible letter of admonition to the 



122 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



Bishop of Goa, reproaching him for his impudence, and 
threatening to depose him. 

One would now, perhaps, imagine that the Jesuits 
are going to acquiesce in these ordinances, which, in 
fact, are merely directed to abolish Pagan superstition, 
too abominable even in the eyes of a Popish pre- 
late. Doubtless, these champions of Rome, these de- 
vout servants of the Holy See, to which they are 
bound by a special vow, are going to yield implicit 
obedience to the supreme head of their Church. Far 
from it. On the contrary, the Jesuits added per- 
jury to disobedience, and uttered falsehoods so bold 
and so barefaced, as Jesuits alone are capable of. 
Fathers Bouchet and Lainez were unsuccessful in their 
mission to Rome. Before they had even reached the 
capital, the decree of the legate had been confirmed 
by a decree from the General Inquisition, dated 6th 
January 1706. The Pope received them very coldly; 
and while they were in Rome, he published his brief 
against the Bishops of Goa and St Thomas, and con- 
firmed the ordinances of the patriarch. Well ! can it 
be believed — would it be credited, that there could be 
found two men, even among these Jesuits, so lost to 
all sentiments of probity and honour, as to declare on 
their return that the Pope had received them with the 
greatest kindness, and that the decree of the legate De 
Tournon had been abrogated ! Great was the astonish- 
ment of the missionaries of the other orders, and of 
some few Christians who viewed with abhorrence so 
much idolatry as was introduced into the religion of 
Christ. But after the first moment of surprise was 
over, they began to doubt the veracity of the Jesuits' 
report, and sent a memorial to Rome to ascertain the 
whole truth. The Jesuits attempted to intercept this ; 
but the messenger with great difficulty escaped an 
ambush that had been laid for him near Milan, and 
at length arrived at Rome. We shall say nothing 



MISSIONS. 



123 



regarding the indignation of Pope Clement XI. on hear- 
ing this. We shall only report part of his brief, which 
removes all doubt regarding the guilt of the Jesuits : — 

" To the Bishop of St Thomas of Meliapar, Pope 
Clement XI. wisheth health, 8fc. 

" We have learned with the greatest sorrow, that it 
has been divulged in your country (India) that wc 
have nullified and abrogated the ordinances contained in 
a decree of our venerable brother, Cardinal de Tour- 
non, dated 23d June 1704, Pondicherry, whither he had 
gone on his way to China ; and that we have, moreover, 
permitted and approved of those rites and ceremonies 
which in the aforesaid decree are declared to be in- 
fected with superstition. Ardently wishing, that in a 
matter of such importance, not only you, but by your 
care all the other bishops and missionaries, should 
know the truth, we have thought proper to send to 
you the joint documents,* authenticated by an aposto- 
lical notary, and by the seal of the General Inquisition ; 
and we beg of the princes of the apostles, &c. 

" Rome, Sept. 17, 1712." 

Before we proceed further in our narrative, we 
must go back some few years, and resume the history 
of the Patriarch de Tournon, who, after having pub- 
lished his decree at Pondicherry, proceeded to China, 
where he arrived in 1705. The Jesuits were already 
there. Before attempting to penetrate into this vast 
empire, they had carefully studied the habits of that 
(comparatively) scientific and learned people ; and, to 
succeed in their enterprise, they resolved upon flatter- 
ing the national prejudices, as well as instructing the 
natives in the sciences and arts. Towards the end 
of the sixteenth century, Father Bicci made his first 

* The decree of the Inquisition of 1706, and his own of 1707, approving 
and confirming De Tournon's decree. 



124 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



entrance into China, and received a very friendly wel- 
come, because he was an able mathematician, and could 
repeat from memory the most important passages of 
Confucius. The emperor esteemed him much for a clock 
which struck the hours, and which had been made pur- 
posely for him by the Jesuit ; and still more for a map, 
far superior to anything the Chinese had attempted in 
that department of knowledge.* But from their too 
great desire to please the Chinese, the Jesuits did here 
as they had already done in Madura — they allowed the 
Christian religion to be contaminated with idolatrous 
practices, and adapted themselves to ail the manners of 
the Chinese. Ranke says that Ricci died in 1610, not 
by excess of labour merely, but more especially by the 
many visits, the long fastings, and all the other duties 
of Chinese society and etiquette.* 

The first step of the Patriarch de Tournon, on enter- 
ing the Chinese Empire, was to summon all the mis- 
sionaries and priests he was able, to Canton, and to 
declare to them that he was determined to tolerate no 
idolatrous superstition whatever. In consequence, he 
commanded them to remove all idolatrous emblems 
from their churches. The Chinese Jesuits seem to 
have shewn more of the hypocrite than those of Ma- 
dura had done. They manifested no opposition what- 
ever to the commands of the patriarch, and obtained 
for him a very kind reception from the Emperor 
Thang-hi. But he enjoyed the imperial favour for a 
very short time indeed. The Jesuits secretly stirred 
up the emperor against him, by representing to him 
that the legate despised the Chinese, their sovereign, 
and their religion, and that he was the instigator and 
adviser of the Bishop of Conon, who was apostolic- 
vicar in the province of Foukin, and who had pro- 
hibited some of the heathen superstitions, in compliance 
with the patriarch's desire. The emperor, indignant 



* Kanke's Hist, of the Popes, vol. ii. p. 230. Eng. trans. 



* Ibid. 



MISSIONS. 



125 



at this, by a decree in August 1706, banished the 
legate from his dominions, and by a subsequent one, 
the Bishop of Conon.* The Jesuits, these diabolical 
sons of hypocrisy, exulting in their hearts at the defeat 
of their enemies, had the impudence — we should say, 
the cruelty — to insult their grief by a letter 'full of 
false condolences and tears, which they sent to De 
Tournon, while still in Nankin. However, it does 
not seem that the prelate was the dupe of their arts, 
as may be perceived from the following noble and 
pathetic answer to the fathers of the Society residing 
at Pekin : — 

" We have received, reverend fathers, in a letter of 
your reverences, full of grief, the decree of the 16th 
December 1706, against the most illustrious Bishop of 

Conon and others You say that this event causes 

you grief and affliction. Would to God that your 
affliction would lead you to repentance ! I should re- 
joice at it, because it would be acceptable to God, and 
might be the means of your salvation.' 

" Night and day I shed tears before God, not less 
for the distressed state of the mission, than on account 
of those ivho are the causes of its affliction ; for, if I 
knew not the cause of the evil, and the authors of it, 
I might endure all more cheerfully. The Holy See 
has condemned your practices ; but much more to 
be detested is that unrestrained licence with which 
you try to bury your shame under the ruins of the 
mission. You have not lent your ears to salutary 
counsel ; and now you betake yourselves to means 
that cause horror (modo ad horrenda confugitis). 

" What shall I say ? Wo is me ! The cause has 

* Maigrot. We do not in the least wish to diminish the merit and the 
good intention of these two prelates. We even believe that M. de Tour- 
non was an excellent man. We only wish to observe that both he and 
Maigrot were Frenchmen ; that very many of the French prelates always 
evinced great enmity towards the Jesuits, and that this, perhaps, had 
some influence in stimulating their zeal for the purity of the Christian 
religion. 



126 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



been determined, but the error continues ; the mission 
will be destroyed sooner than it can be reformed. 

" However, your reverences are not in earnest, but 
merely jesting (ludunt non dolent reverential vestrce), 
when you represent the emperor as being angry with 
you — the emperor who does not act but according to 
your wishes. He would assuredly be angry if he knew 
(God forbid!) what injuries you have caused to his 

glory What faith can I place upon those who in 

all their intercourse with me have used nothing but 
insidious devices? .... I pray of Him who has re- 
served revenge for Himself, not to give you the recom- 
pence you deserve, nor to measure to you with the 

same measure ye have meted to your neighbour If 

you knew the emperor so well as to make you think 
he deserves the name of Herod, why had you recourse 
to him ? . . . . Why have you malignantly excited his 
hatred against an apostolic legate ? . . . . Would to God 
that you would repent from your hearts ! — Yours, &c. 

" Nankin, 11th January 1708" 

But if the prelate was well acquainted with all the 
Jesuitical cunning, he did not know the extent of their 
wickedness. Soon after De Tournon had sent this 
letter, he was arrested by order of the emperor (we 
may well suppose at whose instigation), sent to Macao, 
and delivered up to the Portuguese. The Bishop of 
Macao, who was another creature of the Jesuits, loaded 
him with chains, and threw him into prison. It is 
highly instructive to read the bull of excommunication 
which Pope Clement XL fulminated against the Bishop 
of Macao for this deed. He complained that a Papal 
legate had been arrested, " not by pagans, but by 
Christian magistrates and officers, who, forgetful of his 
sacred character, of his dignity, &c, had dared to lay 
their hands upon him, and to make him endure such 
indignities and tortures that the heathen themselves 
were horror-struck — ipsis exhorrescentibus ethnicis." 



MISSIONS. 



127 



In the same bull the Pope lets us know that De 
Tournon, for certain causes, had been subjected to the 
ecclesiastical censures of the Church, the College, and 
Seminary of the Jesuits, which leaves no doubt as to 
the authors of the capture and ill treatment of the 
prelate, who was used like the worst of criminals, all to 
gratify the revenge of the Jesuits. To console De 
Tournon for all these hardships, Clemens bestowed 
upon him the cardinal's hat ; but, alas ! the prisoner 
did not rejoice long in this high honour. His life was 
near a close. The ill treatment, and, as many say, the 
fastings, which he endured, brought his troubles to an 
end. He died in 1710, at the age of forty-two. Oh ! 
one is almost tempted to implore the vengeance of God 
upon such sacrilegious men, who, calling themselves 
Christians — nay, most perfect Christians — condemned 
to exquisite tortures, and to a most miserable and pro- 
tracted death, this noble-hearted man, for attempting 
to purify the religion of Christ from pagan supersti- 
tion. So perished De Tournon, a man certainly one 
of the best prelates of the Romish Church. Clement 
XI. eulogised him in a public consistory, and, as we 
have said, excommunicated the Bishop of Macao. We 
shall not add a word of observation ; the facts speak 
clearly for themselves. 

We shall now resume our narrative about the 
Malabar rites, and endeavour to bring it to a speedy 
conclusion ; the facts which we have already reported 
being more than sufficient to give a very clear idea of 
the religious teaching of the Jesuits in India, and of 
their deportment there. Clement XL, in 1719 ; Bene- 
dict XIII., in 1727 ; Clement XIL, in 1734 and 1739, 
published briefs upon briefs to oblige the Jesuits to 
submit to the decree of Cardinal de Tournon, but in 
vain. The Jesuits either refused or eluded obedience 
to them. And when Clement XIL, in 1739, forced 
them to take a very stringent oath* to obey the 

* I, N., of the order N., or Society of J esus, sent, designated as a rnis- 



128 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



decree, every J esuit took it, but no one observed it ; 
finding a specious excuse for not doing so in that doc- 
trine of theirs, then in full force, which declares that 
" the man who makes an oath with his mouth, without 
the consent of his mind, is not obliged to keep the 
oath, because he had not sworn, but only jested." 

At last Benedict XIV. resolved to put an end to the 
contest, by publishing, in 1741, a terrible bull, in 
which he calls the Jesuits disobedient, contumacious, 
crafty, and reprobate men (inobedientes, contumaces, 
captiosi, et perditi homines), and in which he made 
such stringent and undoubted provisions, that it was a 
difficult matter to evade obeying it; and especially 
after the Pope, by another brief in the following year, 
commanded that the brief of 1741 be read every Sab- 
bath-day in all the houses, churches, and colleges of 
the Society. 

The influence of the Jesuits in India now began to 
decline rapidly. Their Saniassi were discovered to be 

sionary, to the kingdom or province of N. in the East Indies, by the 
Apostolic See, by my superiors, according to the powers granted to them 
by the Apostolic See, obeying the precept of our Holy Lord Pope Clement 
.XII., in his Apostolic Letter, issued in the form of a brief, on the 13th 
day of May 1739, enjoining all the missionaries in the said missions to 
take an oath that they will faithfully observe the apostolic determination 
concerning the Malabar rites, according to the tenor of the Apostolic 
Letter in the form of a brief of the same our Holy Lord, dated 24th 
August 1734, and beginning Compertum deploratumque, well known to 
me by my reading the whole of that brief, promise that I will obey fully 
and faithfully, that I will observe it exactly, entirely, absolutely, and 
inviolably, and that I will fulfil it without any tergiversation ; moreover, 
that I will instruct the Christians committed to my charge according to 
the tenor of the said brief, as well in my preaching as in my private 
ministrations, and especially the catechumens before they shall be bap- 
tized ; and unless they promise that they will observe the said brief, with 
its determinations and prohibitions, that I will not baptize them ; further, 
that I shall take care, with all possible zeal and diligence, that the cere- 
monies of the heathen be abolished, and these rites practised and retained 
by the Christians which the Catholic Church had piously decreed. 
But if at any time (which may Gfod forbid !) I should oppose (that brief), 
either in whole or in part, so often do I declare and acknowledge myself 
.subject to the penalties imposed by our Holy Lord, whether in the decree 
or in the Apostolic Letter, as above, concerning the taking of this oath, 
in like manner well known to me by reading the whole thereof. Thus, 
touching the Holy Gospels, I promise, vow, and swear, so may God help 
me, and these God's Holy Gospels ! Signed with my own hand — N." 



MISSIONS. 



129 



impostors. The war that began shortly after between 
France and England caused still greater damage ; and 
when their order was abolished in 1773, the Jesuits 
had little or no influence in India. — These are the 
principal features of the missions in India, properly so 
called. In Japan, that turbulent and warlike country, 
the Jesuits adopted a different and more appropriate 
method to acquire influence among the people. Throw- 
ing away somewhat of their cunning and pretended 
sanctity, they espoused the cause of one or other of the 
various parties who were disputing for power, were 
cherished, respected, and permitted to preach their 
religion, if the party they sided with were triumphant ; 
persecuted, exiled, and put to death if it were van- 
quished. The hundreds of Jesuits who are represented 
to us as having perished martyrs for their faith were 
oftener executed as unsuccessful conspirators. The 
Japanese were not so bigoted a race as the Indians, 
and the Bonzes, their priests, were not all-powerful 
like the Brahmins. The persecutions they exercised 
against their dangerous rivals, the Jesuits, could not 
be successful but when the people and the sovereign 
were offended against them, not as missionaries, but 
as defeated malcontents and conspirators. The Jesuits 
maintained their ground in Japan with various vicissi- 
tudes, till they were suppressed. In China, also, 
they maintained their ground by the same means 
which opened it for their reception — they conformed 
themselves to the manners and customs of the people 
as far as they could, and it appears that they partly 
succeeded in conquering some of their national pre- 
judices; they were at least supported by the higher 
classes, who held them in much esteem for their learn- 
ing, and so much respected that some were made 
mandarins ; and even when the Christians were perse- 
cuted as dangerous conspirators, the Jesuits were left 
unmolested. However, we possess few documents, 
excepting those of the Jesuit historians relating their 



130 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



own deeds, whereby to ascertain the real truth regard- 
ing their condition in that country. 

The J esuits assure us that millions of idolaters were 
converted by them in all these countries, but their 
fabulous narrations are contradicted by facts. For, 
when a statistical account was made in 1760, of all 
the Christians residing in India and Japan, the num- 
ber was found to be less than a half of what Xavier 
alone is said to have converted, and more than one 
hundred times less than had been accomplished by the 
united labours of all the Jesuit missionaries. This 
reminds us of the computation made by a witty person 
of all the Arabians killed by the French bulletins from 
1831 to 1841, which three or four times outnumbered 
the whole Arabian population. 

In all these countries the Jesuits derived from their 
converts great contributions ; but of their traffic more 
anon. 

We have thus given an outline of these celebrated 
missions, and we are sorry that we cannot extend the 
recital of them any further. A characteristic fact 
ascertained from an accurate study of their missions 
is, that the Jesuit missionaries, with the view of domi- 
neering over these countries, altogether regardless of 
the interests of the Christian religion, slandered and 
persecuted all other missionaries, even although they 
were Roman Catholics. And so they do still. 

We must further observe, that the Jesuits, these so- 
called fervent and unexceptionable Roman Catholics, 
lived for more than fifty years in open rebellion against 
the chief of their Church — God on earth — the infallible 
vicegerent of Christ — and committed during that same 
period as many sacrileges as were the sacerdotal func- 
tions they performed ; for, since by the non-observance 
of the Cardinal de Tournon's decree, they incurred a 
suspension a divinis, w r hich means, suspension from the 
exercise of their ministry — whatever sacerdotal act 
they performed, they committed a sacrilege. 



MISSIONS. 



131 



But methinks I hear some one say, do you believe 
that the court of Rome persisted in such a contest be- 
cause she abhorred such idolatrous practices ? By no 
means. The Popes fought for their authority, for the 
infallibility of their oracles, and not to uphold the 
purity of the Christian religion. Superstition — 
idolatry — they like, they encourage, they live by it. 
Under their eyes such acts of idolatrous abominations 
are daily committed, that those of India become insig- 
nificant when compared with them. I beg permission 
to relate only one, which, if the fact could not be as- 
certained by any one every year in many of the 
Italian towns, I fear would not be credited, so very 
sacrilegious is it. In the little town of San Lorenzo 
in Campo,* forty miles distant from Ancona, the fol- 
lowing procession takes place on the Good Friday of 
every year. The line of procession extends from the 
town, through an almost open country, for about a 
mile and a half, the whole way having been previously 
prepared for the purpose. On platforms, erected at 
certain distances, the different stages of our Saviour's 
passion are represented. On one of them you see the 
judgment-seat, and Pilate condemning Christ to death ; 
on another, Christ crowned with thorns ; on a third, 
Christ falling under the load of the cross on his way 
to Calvary, and so on. Next comes the crucifixion, 
represented in four different acts. The first exhibits 
Christ with one of his hands nailed to the cross ; the 
second, with both his hands nailed; the third, with 
both hands and feet ; and in the fourth, our holy Re- 
deemer is exhibited as expiring, and with his breast 
pierced by a spear. At the foot of the cross may be 
seen the three Maries. All these personages chosen 
to represent our Lord's passion, are picked out from 
the very dregs of the people, and are paid more or less, 
according to the uneasiness of the posture which they 

* I choose to speak of the procession held in this town, because I have 
there witnessed it myself. 



132 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



are made to assume. He who personates our Saviour 
receives the greatest pay, a crown ; while the respec- 
tive representatives of Pilate and Mary obtain the 
smallest named, eighteenpence. All these sacri- 
legous pantomimers are at their post half an hour 
before the procession begins, and dressed suitably 
to the character impersonated by each. The mis- 
creant who hangs upon the cross (we shudder to relate 
such abominations) has only a belt around his middle, 
the cross being so constructed as to lessen the diffi- 
culty of his posture. About an hour and a half after 
sunset, the priests, in their pontifical robes, issue from 
the church, accompanied by all the civil authorities, 
and by a great concourse of citizens dressed in mourn- 
ing, and carrying lighted torches in their hands. On 
their way they kneel down before every platform, 
offer up a prayer, and sing a part of some sacred 
hymn ! This impious ceremony is performed with be- 
coming gravity so soon as the priests and the bulk of 
the procession draw nigh to the respective platforms ; 
but before their arrival, and after their departure, the 
scene presents a most revolting and disgusting spec- 
tacle. Many of the lazzaroni go round, laughing 
and shouting, and address those who impersonate our 
Saviour and the Virgin, in the most insulting and 
profane language. You may hear many saying, " Ha, 
ha ! thou art here, Theresa ! Thou art the Virgin, 
art thou not ? Ah, ah ! you " — (modesty forbids us 
to repeat the remainder of the sentence). "Ah! 
Frances, thou art the Magdalen ! By my troth, it is 
not long since thou repentedst" — or, " Oh, Paul I 
Paul ! there is some mistake. Thou oughtest to repre- 
sent the impenitent robber, and not the Christ, thou 
arrant thief ! " But we must draw a veil over the rest 
of that infernal scene. 

So abhorrent is idolatry to the Court of Rome I 



THE GENERALS OF THJS ORDER. 



133 



CHAPTER VIII. 

1556-1581. 

THE SECOND, THIRD, AND FOURTH GENERALS OF 
THE ORDER. 

Many were the trials the Jesuits had to encounter after 
the death of Loyola. The moment he expired, the pro- 
fessed members who were at Rome appointed Lainez 
Vicar-General, although he was at the time dangerously 
ill, fixing, at the same time, the month of November 
for the election of the new General. No objection 
could be raised against the nomination of Lainez, he 
being without contradiction the most prominent living 
member of the Society. The difficulties only began 
when the Vicar-General adjourned the General Con- 
gregation sine die. Lainez was constrained to take 
this step because Philip II. of Spain had forbidden any 
of his subjects to leave his dominions, as he was then 
at war with the Pope. 

Since that fatal epoch in which Clement VII., for 
the benefit of his family (the Medici), had betrayed 
the glory and destinies of Italy into the hands of the 
house of Austria, the unfortunate peninsula (if we 
except Venice) became an imperial fief, and the sub- 
sequent popes the Emperor's chief vassals. Paul IV., 
although worn out with years, conceived the bold 
idea of freeing Italy from the Austrian yoke. " He 
would sit," says Ranke, quoting Navagero, " for long 
hours over the black, thick, fiery wine of Naples, 
his usual drink, and pour forth torrents of stormy 
eloquence against these schismatics and heretics — 
accursed of God — that evil generation of Jew and 

K 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



Moor — that scum of the world, and other titles equally 
complimentary, which he bestowed with unsparing 
liberality on everything Spanish." * And so intense 
was his hatred against the house of Austria, that he 
made a strict alliance with the Protestant leader, 
Albert of Brandenburg, and formed his regiments 
almost entirely of Protestants, to fight against a Ro- 
man Catholic king. And, as if this were not enough, 
the Pope, the so-called chief of Christianity, made 
proposals to Soliman I., the great enemy of the 
Christian name, to enter into an alliance with him, 
in order to destroy the ultra-Roman Catholic and 
bigoted Philip II. 

The Spanish Jesuits thus prevented from going 
to Rome, the General Congregation, as we have 
said, was postponed. This began the strife. Private 
ambition broke forth, and threw the community into 
great confusion. The revolt was headed by the vio- 
lent Bobadilla. He prevailed upon Rodriguez, Brouet, 
and two or three others, to join him in reproaching 
the tyranny and despotism of Lainez. They pre- 
tended that he had no right to possess, alone, the su- 
preme authority, which ought to reside in all the sur- 
viving founders of the order till a General was elected. 
Pamphlets were addressed to the Pope, accusing the 
Vicar-General of entertaining the design to repair to 
Spain for the purpose of holding the Congregation, 
and of establishing the seat of the order in that coun- 
try. The Pope, upon this announcement, became 
furious ; he thundered imprecations against the So- 
ciety ; and when Lainez presented himself to have an 
audience, he refused to see him, and ordered him to 
give up, within three days, all the constitutions and 
ordinances of the Society, with the name of every 
professed member resident at Rome, and forbade any 
one of the latter to leave the capital. The storm, 
it is evident, was gaining strength, but Lainez was 
* Ranke's Hist, of the Popes, vol. i. p. 217. (Eng. trans.) 



THE GENERALS OF THE ORDER. 



135 



an expert and skilful pilot. Inferior to Loyola in 
natural gifts, in firmness of character, in boldness and 
energy, he was his superior in cunning, in reflection, 
in patience. Ignatius, the imperious ex-officer, in 
the same circumstances, would have scourged Boba- 
dilla, dismissed some rioters from the Society, and 
obliged the others to fall at his feet and ask forgive- 
ness. The politician Lainez avoided combat in an open 
field, hoping to gain the battle by stratagem. He 
quietly and stealthily got possession of all Bobadilla's 
writings on the subject,* learned from them what were 
his enemies' projects, prepared his means of defence 
accordingly, detached Rodriguez and Brouet from 
Bobadilla's interest by caresses and promises, sent the 
latter to reform a convent of Franciscan friars at Fo- 
ligno, and condemned Gorgodanuz, the most pertina- 
cious of the rebels, to say one pater noster and one 
ave Maria ! When a cardinal related this fact to the 
Pope, Paul crossed himself as at something strange and 
prodigious.j Sacchini pretends that the Pope made the 
sign of the cross, being filled with wonder at the blind- 
ness of the rebels ; but assuredly Paul was struck at 
the supremely cunning policy of the Vicar-General.f 

The revolt was, however, subdued, the Pope ap- 
peased, and soon after the war was also brought to an 
end. The Duke of Alva, that sanguinary and ferocious 

* The passage of Saccliini is most instructive upon this point. 
u Lainez/' says he, " did not write a single word on the matter ; on the 
contrary, Bobadilla and Gorgodanuz did nothing else than issue pamphlet 
upon pamphlet, but it always happened by the Divine will (Divino tamen 
consilio fiebat), that their writings fell into the Vicar-General's hand. 
Sometimes they (Lainez's enemies) imprudently dropped the writings in 
the street, sometimes they negligently left them in their rooms unlocked, 
at other times they were delivered up to Lainez by the very persons to 
whom they were addressed. " In other words, Lainez, by the most ignoble 
proceedings and abject espionage, made himself master of his enemies' 
writings ; yet the Jesuit historian says ' ' that it happened Divino consilio" 
I wonder he does not add, ad majorem Dei gloriam. 

t Sach. lib. i. § 86. 

% The act of making the sign of the cross is very significant. It is still 
the custom in Italy for the common people to do so on hearing of some 
great and unwonted crime, or of some extraordinary event. 



136 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



butcher of the Belgians, conqueror of the Papal troops 
and of the allied armies, entered vanquished Rome, 
craved for an audience of the Pontiff, threw himself at 
his feet, and implored his forgiveness for having dared 
to fight against him. What a strange piece of contra- 
diction is man ! 

The peace established between King Philip and the 
Pope made a free passage between Italy and Spain. 
The fathers arrived in Rome, and the General Con- 
gregation met on the 19th of June 1558. 

On the 2d of July, while the fathers were on the 
point of proceeding to the election of the General, 
Cardinal Pacheco presented himself to the conclave in 
the Pope's name, and after some trifling compliments, 
said he was ready to act as secretary and teller of the 
ballot. We cannot imagine the reason Paul had for 
taking such a precaution, unless he was afraid lest Bor- 
gia should be elected General — Borgia, the companion, 
the friend of Charles V. and of his son. The Cardinal, 
however, took his place among the fathers, and pre- 
pared to act as secretary. The schedules, which had 
been put into an urn by each elector, having been with- 
drawn and examined, the Cardinal announced that 
Lainez was elected by a majority of 13 to 7. He was 
in consequence proclaimed General, and the Jesuits 
w r ent in one after another to pay him homage, and to 
kiss his hands on their bended knees. 

The Congregation then proceeded to dispose of other 
business. There was first of all a discussion as to 
whether or not the Constitutions should be modified. 
This was answered in the negative. It must be ob- 
served, however, that Lainez, in the margin of the 
16th chapter of the fourth part of the Constitutions, 
where it is prescribed that in the School of Theology 
the scholastic doctrine of St Thomas shall be explained, 
had inserted a declaration, " that if any book of the- 
ology could be found more adapted to the times, it 
shall be taught." An historian very judiciously re- 



THE GENERALS OF THE ORDER. 137 

marks, that Lainez appears already to have formed 
the project of establishing a new doctrine, which was 
propounded by Molina soon after. The original ma- 
nuscripts, which were written by Ignatius in Spanish, 
were next confronted with the Latin version by Po- 
lancus. The latter was approved of, and ordered to 
be printed by the press of the Roman College, and 
this was immediately executed — the first edition of 
the Constitutions bearing the date of 1558. 

But whilst in the middle of their legislative labours, 
they were startled by the arrival of Cardinal Trani, 
who announced to them that it was the Pope's pleasure 
that they should perform the choral office, like all the 
other monastic orders, and that the office of General 
should only last for three years. The Jesuits remon- 
strated, and spoke of their Constitutions, and of the 
papal bull that had been issued in their favour. The 
cardinal answered that the commands of his holiness 
must be obeyed. The Jesuits got up a memorial, and 
Lainez and Salmeron went to present it to the Pope. 
Paul received them freezingly ; and at the first obser- 
vation of Lainez, exclaimed, " You are contumacious 
persons. In this matter you act like heretics, and I 
fear lest some sectarian should be seen issuing from 
your company. But we are firmly resolved to tole- 
rate such disorders no longer." * This was the second 
time that Lainez had been abruptly and arrogantly 
apostrophised by Paul. When he visited him after he 
had been chosen Vicar-General, he received the volleys 
of insult which the Pope poured upon him with the greatest 
submission. But it seems that his patience at this time 
gave way, and he boldly answered, that he had not 
sought of his own accord to be made General, that he 
was ready to give up the office at that very moment, but 
that his holiness knew well that the fathers, in pro- 
ceeding to the election, had intended to name a General 
for life, according to the rules of their Constitutions; 
* Cret. vol. i. p. 369. 



138 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



for the remainder, " we teach," added he, " we preach 
against the heretics; on that account they hate us, and 
call us Papists. Wherefore your holiness ought to give us 
your protection, and evince toward us the yearnings of 
a father, rather than find fault with us."* This was the 
substance of Lainez's answer, shaped by the Jesuit his- 
torians into a more humble and respectful form. But 
the irascible and obstinate Paul was unmoved by his 
appeal. He told Lainez that he would not accept of 
his resignation, that his orders must be executed, and 
then dismissed him and his brother envoy. Paul was 
fierce and vindictive, and not to be trifled with. He 
had accused his own nephews in a full consistory, and 
banished them and their families from Rome. His 
greatest desire was to see the Inquisition at work. 
Ranke says that he seldom interfered in other matters, 
but was never so much as once absent from presiding 
every Thursday over the Congregation of the Inqui- 
sition. Having such a man to deal with, the Jesuits 
were forced to submit to perform the choral office, con- 
soling themselves with the hope that the next Pope 
would be more lenient toward them ; nor were they 
disappointed. Medici, the successor of Paul, who took 
the name of Pius IV., shewed himself more favourable 
to the Company of Jesus; not for love of them, but 
out of hatred to his predecessor, who had been his 
enemy .f Although he was of a mild and cheerful dis- 
position, he made a fearful example of the nephews of 
the deceased pontiff. Their crimes assuredly deserved 
punishment ; but as it was not in the disposition of 
Pius to be cruel or revengeful, he was doubtless insti- 
gated to act in this case with unwonted rigour. But 
who his instigators were, or whence he derived the 

* Cret. vol. i. p 369. 

*t* Paul IV. had hardly expired, when the Romans, highly incensed at 
the miseries caused by the war, and at the severities of the Inquisition, 
rose in a body, and with execrations and curses pulled down the statue 
which had been erected to him in the beginning of his Pontificate, broke 
into the Inquisition, and destroyed every thing in it. 



THE GENERALS OF THE ORDER. 



139 



malignant and retributory inspiration on which he 
acted, it would be difficult to determine. We only 
know that the Jesuits had been persecuted by the 
Caraffas from the beginning, and that " Pius IV.," as 
Cretineau affirms, " shewed himself from first to last 
to be more favourable to the Jesuits than even Paul 
III. had been."* The Jesuits, it is certain, had then 
great influence at the Court of Pome. Cardinal Ca- 
raffa and the Duke of Palliano, nephews to the late 
Pope, along with two of their relatives, were condemned 
to death. They were denied their own confessors, and 
Jesuits were called in as their spiritual comforters. Cre- 
tineau says, that the Duke of Palliano asked Lainez 
to send him a Jesuit confessor, while the detractors of 
the order think that they intruded themselves, to wit- 
ness the agony and death of their enemies. We let 
our readers judge for themselves. The unfortunate 
culprits were executed during the night of the 6th 
and 7th August 1561. The cardinal never for a mo- 
ment suspected that they would execute the sentence 
upon him. He tried to delay his execution by linger- 
ing with his confessor. " Make an end, my lord, we 
have other business on hand," exclaimed an officer of 
police. A few minutes longer, and the cardinal was a 
corpse. 

The Society now seemed upon the whole to be in a 
prosperous condition, and increased rapidly. Lainez 
did not exercise his authority with an iron hand, like 
Loyola, but he had great tact, and knew how to govern 
a community by cunning policy. Some mishaps, how- 
ever, befel the Society. In Grenada, a Jesuit confessor 
refused to give absolution to a woman till she had re- 
vealed the name of her accomplice in the sin which she 
had confessed. This madeagreat noise. But the Jesuits, 
supported by the archbishop and the Inquisition, braved 
the opinion of the public so far, that one of them, John 
Raminius, declared from the pulpit, as an established 

* Cret. vol. i. p. 386. 



140 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



doctrine, " that although in general no sin of the most 
holy confession ought to be revealed, there may, never- 
theless, be circumstances in which the confessor may 
oblige the penitent to discover the accomplice of the 
sin, or to give up the names of the persons infected with 
heresy, permitting him (the confessor) to denounce the 
person or persons to the competent tribunal."* 

This of itself shews clearly enough the inviolability 
of the secret of confession, yet we must say that these 
gentlemen have made great progress since, for now, 
without asking the penitent's permission, they betake 
themselves at once to the officers of police.| However, 
it is only the sins committed against religion or politics 
which never fail to be disclosed ; the ruffian and 
assassin need not apprehend that their crimes will be 
brought to light. 

The next disaster the order encountered was the dis- 
pleasure evinced by Philip II. against Francis Borgia, 
the ex-Duke of Candia, one of his father's testamentary 
executors, and who had a very great influence over 
the other sons of Charles V. % The Inquisition, that 
faithful satellite of the Spanish crown, to please the 
king, condemned two ascetic books by that same Borgia, 
who, a few years afterwards, was numbered among the 
saints who were worshipped; he himself narrowly 
escaped being captured as a heretic. Borgia bore all 
this with true Christian humility, as well as some 
opposition shewn him by his own subordinates, and 

* Sacch. lib. ii. § 131. 

+ I may here repeat what I have already said in one or two of my for- 
mer publications. When we in 1848 took possession of the Convent of 
La Minerva, the seat of the Inquisition in Rome, we found among other 
things a packet of autograph letters, written by the priests of different 
countries, revealing various confessions to the Inquisitor. And it was a 
very curious thing that the first letter which fell into the hands of Mr 
Montecchi, a secretary of State, was from the capuchin of the State 
Prison, in which he was a prisoner a few years before. These letters, 
which are now out of our reach, are, however, safe, and will, I hope, be 
soon published. 

% The Jesuits, in this circumstance, were again forbidden to leave 
Spain, or to send any money out of the country. 



THE GENERALS OF THE ORDER. 



141 



was consoled by the Pope, who called him to Rome, 
and received him with the utmost kindness. 

Again, in Montepulciano, a town fifteen miles distant 
from Sienna, the Jesuits were accused of immorality. 
One was charged with having pressed a woman to 
go home with him ; another, of having issued from a 
brothel; a third, of having offered violence to a fe- 
male; and Father Gombar, the Superior himself, of 
having illicit intercourse with several ladies, and par- 
ticularly with one whose love-letters were found in 
his possession. All these were incontestible facts, 
proved by sworn witnesses. Now listen to the im- 
perturbable impudence of the historian Sacchini upon 
this matter. The reason he assigns for all these calum- 
nies is, that " the Jesuits confessed almost all the women 
in Montepulciano ; that they induced many young 
ladies to consecrate themselves to God in monasteries, 
and married females to be chaste and faithful wives. 
Hence arose the grief and fury {dolor et furor) of those 
whose passions could no longer find aliment. They, 
therefore, plotted the expulsion of the fathers." What 
a set of monsters were these citizens of Montepul- 
ciano ! 

But let us proceed. " The man accused of having 
solicited a woman to go with him, was a simpleton, who, 
meeting a female on the road, was asked where he was 
going, and had the imprudence to answer. It was an 
enemy of the order, dressed as a Jesuit, who was seen 
to leave the brothel. Gombar, the Rector, did indeed 
entertain himself rather long in the confessional, but 
then he was engaged in spiritual conversation with the 
ladies. Among other penitents, he had two sisters 
belonging to a very high family ; and the father, not 
being able to undertake the charge of both, was forced 
to abandon one of them. The one that was dismissed, 
out of spite and jealousy, accused the other to her 
brother, who forbade her to confess any longer to 
Gombar. The letters were falsified, and every other ac- 



142 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



cusation was mere calumny." * After such justifications 
as these, few will doubt that the Jesuits were guilty. 
Gombar, at any rate, frightened by the public rumour, 
fled, and Lainez dismissed him from the Society, in 
spite of all his entreaties. The town-council stopped 
paying the Jesuit teacher the allowed salary. The 
College was deserted — no alms! — no friends! Poor 
Jesuits ! they were starving. And Lainez, after trying 
in vain to regain for the College its former good name, 
by sending thither some of the best and most conspi- 
cuous of the Jesuits, suppressed it altogether in 1563. 
Let them after this proclaim their innocence ! 

Accusations of a like nature were brought against 
the Jesuits in Venice, and were corroborated by the 
Patriarch. Some of the senators proposed to expel 
the Jesuits from the states of the republic, or to make 
them submit to the Patriarch's authority ; but the 
authority and interference of the Pope brought mat- 
ters again to an accommodation. 

Further, all the Jesuits in the College of Milan were 
accused of unnatural crimes. Here, also, the facts 
were pretty well established. Cretineau himself is 
forced to admit the occurrence of individual crimes; 
but, although a certain bishop brought forth many 
young men as witnesses against the Jesuits, yet the 
cardinal, chosen by the Pope to examine into the case, 
absolved them. 

Meanwhile, at the end of three years, Lainez thought 
it would be politic on his part to appear anxious to re- 
sign the office. Having consulted his brethren on the 
subject, they declared that the office should be perpetual. 
We shall here give Bobadilla's answer, on account of 
its originality. The formerly fierce opponent of Lainez 
writes to him thus from Ragusa : — "My opinion is that 
the office of General should be perpetual, according 
to the letter of our Constitutions. Let, then, your 
reverence keep a firm hold of it for a hundred years, 

* Sacch. lib. v. § -107-10. 



THE GENERALS OF THE ORDER. 



143 



and if after your death you should return to life, my 
advice is that the office be again conferred upon you, 
that you may keep it to the day of judgment. And I 
beg of you, for the love of Christ, to keep it, and be 
of good cheer/' &c. 

Lainez being now assured of the perpetuity of his 
office, leaving Salmeron to manage the affairs of Italy, 
set out for France, in order that he might take part in 
the famous colloquy or conferences of Poissy, of whifch 
more hereafter. From France he passed into Bel- 
gium, visited the Rhenish provinces, a part of Germany, 
and crossed the Tyrol on his way to Trent. 

In all these places Lainez made good use of both 
his name and authority, endeavoured to acquire new 
protectors for his order, to increase its revenues, to 
establish new houses, never forgetting, either in his 
sermons or controversies, to throw out slanders, and 
vehemently to attack the Protestant cause. He at 
last arrived in Trent for the re-opening of the Coun- 
cil. This famous assembly, which so solemnly conse- 
crated some of the greatest errors that had ever been 
given to the world — which interposed an impassable 
barrier between Christian and Christian, but which, 
nevertheless, the Court of Rome calls most holy, re- 
opened on the 18th January 1562. This last Council 
had been called for by Luther, by the Protestants, 
and all those princes who were desirous to check the 
despotism of the Court of Rome, and to give peace 
to the Church by mutual concessions between the op- 
posing parties. Different successive Popes refused this 
as long as possible, dreading the total ruin of their 
authority. Yet this assembly, as Fra Paolo, its his- 
torian, judiciously remarks, had a result quite opposite 
from that which was expected. The Potestants took no 
part in the Council's proceedings, the authority of the 
Popes was further extended and more firmly established 
than ever, and the hope of healing the schism in the 
Church was altogether blasted. 



144 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



The Council commenced its sittings in Trent on the 
13th December 1545, was thence transferred to Bolog- 
na in March 1547, against the will of the German and 
Spanish prelates, who continued at Trent, was inter- 
rupted on the 2d of June of the same year, re-opened 
in May 1551, was again suspended in April 1552, re- 
opened in Trent, as we have said, in January 1562, 
and finally closed on the 3d of December 1563. The 
Jesuits boast of having had the greatest share in 
drawing up the decrees and fixing the dogmas as they 
now stand. Salmeron, Brouet, and especially Lainez, 
exercised great influence; and, if there were any glory 
in upholding erroneous doctrines and the tyrannical 
authority of the Pope, it most undoubtedly belonged 
to them, nor are we disposed to envy them the dis- 
tinction they thus gained.* 

Lainez left Trent for Rome, and his whole journey 
through Italy was one continued triumph. But, alas ! 
poor Lainez had not long to taste the sweetness of 
adulation. His health, which had always been deli- 
cate, became worse and worse. He fell seriously ill, 
lingered in his bed for two or three months, and 
breathed his last on the 19th of January 1565, at the 
age of 53. 

Lainez was under the middle size, had a fair com- 
plexion and cheerfnl countenance, with large bright 
eyes, but his appearance was very unprepossessing. 
He was gifted with a great facility of elocution, and a 
prodigious memory. He left many manuscripts be- 
hind him ; some were unfinished, and almost all are 
unintelligible, as his handwriting was execrable. 

* Lainez, among other exploits, attacked with great violence the autho- 
rity of the bishops, and would have had them to be mere tools in the hands 
of the Pope. He maintained on another occasion that, " as the slave 
possesses less authority than his master, in like manner the CouncU 
could not undertake a reformation upon the matter, the annates being 
of Divine right. " Again, "as Jesus Christ has the power to dispense 
from all sorts of laws, the Pope, his vicar, has the same authority, since 
the Judge and his Lieutenant have the same tribunal,'' and other 
similar blasphemies. See Fra Paolo Sarpi upon the Congregations, 20th 
October 1562, and 16th June 1563. 



THE GEXERALS OF THE ORDER. 



145 



The day after Lainez expired, the Jesuits in Rome 
named Francis Borgia Vicar-General, until a new 
election should take place. Borgia is one of the saints 
and glories of the order, and his history is really a 
most extraordinary one. He was descended from that 
Alexander VI. who united in his person all the crimes 
of past and future Popes, and was a stain to humanity 
itself. Our Borgia was, however, a man of the strictest 
honesty, and of unblemished honour. He was hand- 
some, brave, the companion in arms and friend of 
Charles V., was Duke of Candia and Vice-king of 
Barcelona. In 1546, when he was only 36 years 
of age, his duchess died. The sight of her beautiful 
face, altered and disfigured by death, made such a 
powerful impression upon his mind, that he from that 
moment resolved to give up all worldly thoughts, and 
consecrate himself (as the phrase goes) to God. He 
chose the Society of the Jesuits as the safest retreat, 
and wrote to Loyola for the purpose. Ignatius' an- 
swer begins thus : — " The resolution you have taken, 
most illustrious lord, gives me much joy. Let the 
angels and saints in heaven give thanks to God, for we 
on this earth cannot be sufficiently grateful to God for 
the great honour He bestows upon His little Society 
in calling you to join it."* 

This man had nine children, some in infancy, and 
all under age, whom he left in the wide world unpro- 
tected, to enter the Society. And the angels and 
saints ought to praise God for this! Alas for the 
moral blindness of perverted human nature ! Loyola 
again wrote to him, saying that he accepted him as his 
brother, but that, before he could be admitted into the 
noviciate, he must settle all his temporal affairs, and 
have nothing more to do with the world ; meanwhile, 
until he was ready to enter the Society, to keejo his 
intention a secret. Borgia was admitted into the 
house of probation in 1548, and from that moment he 
* See the whole letter in Cret. vol. i. p. 294. 



146 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



became a bigoted fanatic, whose greatest happiness 
consisted in lacerating his body. Macaulay says, ill 
an article in the Edinburgh Review, " that it is making 
penitence with him to listen to the recital of his flagel- 
lations and his self-inflicted punishments of all kinds." 
He had so destroyed his constitution by this absurd 
way of trying to please God, that he never had a 
single day of good health, and was even once threat- 
ened with a gangrene over his whole body. Such was 
the man appointed Vicar-General, and afterwards chief 
of the order. He had no wish for the honour, con- 
sidered the office a burden, and we believe he was 
sincere in his humility. The first battle he had to fight 
was against the Holy See itself. Almost contempo- 
raneously with his nomination, a Dominican friar as- 
cended the Papal throne, under the name of Pius V. 
A more bigoted, fanatical, cruel, and sanguinary man 
never existed. Brought up under the wing of the 
Inquisition, he contracted a sort of blind passion for 
that bloody tribunal, and never felt so happy as 
when he heard of some barbarous cruelties inflicted 
upon the heretics, or when some hecatombs of these 
accursed enemies of Popery were sacrificed at the altar 
of his revenge, or when some new instrument of torture 
was invented against them. Suffice it to say, that when 
he sent his general, Santafiore, to fight against the 
French Protestants, he commanded him in the most 
peremptory manner to take no Huguenot prisoner, but 
to put them one and all to the sword ; and because San- 
tafiore had not rigorously executed his commands, he 
reproached him in the most bitter manner. And when 
that monster of cruelty, the Duke of Alva, had spread 
death and desolation over the entire of the Nether- 
lands, 18,000 of the inhabitants of whij3h he boasted of 
having delivered up into the hands of the executioners, 
so pleased was Pius with his deeds, that he sent him the 
consecrated hat and sword, as marks of his approval.* 
Can this, then, be the religion of Christ I Is it for a 
* Ranke, Hist, of the Popes, vol. i. p. 286. 



THE GENERALS OF THE ORDER. 



147 



moment possible that this should be the true religion, 
this which erects upon its altars the statues of such 
monsters of iniquity, and impiously calls them saints, 
to be worshipped in place of God the Lord ? And 
among the greatest of these modern saintships stands 
forth the name of Pius V. ! This Pope, a most rigorous 
observer of all the monastic and superstitious cere- 
monies, gave the Jesuits to understand that they should 
undertake the choral hours as prescribed by Pius IV., 
and that no Jesuit should be ordained a priest before 
he had pronounced the four vows. We shall not repeat 
the conversation which took place between the Holy 
Father and the saint Borgia, as given by Sacchini and 
other historians ; we shall only give some extracts of 
the bold and eloquent memorials which the Jesuits 
presented to the Pope on this occasion. 

After reminding his holiness, in a gentle yet ad- 
monitory manner, that their Constitutions had been 
approved of by three popes, and that they could not be 
altered without good reasons for so doing, they proceed 
to state, " that their Society had been established to 
repel the impious efforts of the heretics, to oppose the 
infernal tricks which had been had recourse to to ex- 
tinguish the light of the Catholic truth, and to resist 
the barbarous enemies of Christ, who were besieging 
the holy edifice of the Church, undermining it insen- 
sibly ; that, in order that they might be able to resist 
this invasion effectually, their holy father Ignatius 
thought that it would be better for them to leave 

singing to others And did not the same causes 

still exist, they inquired, for the exercise of their ac- 
tivity, as the signs of the times unmistakably demon- 
strated? They submitted that a vast conflagration 
was devouring France ; that Germany was in a great 
measure consumed; that England was one heap of 
ashes ; that Belgium was falling into ruins ; that Poland 
smoked in every quarter ; that the flames were already 
blazing around the confines of Italy And they 



148 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



should lose their time in undertaking the choral 
hours." * On this point the Pope yielded ; but. on 
the other, he was inflexible, saying, that it was requi- 
site that at least as much learning and virtue should be 
in a priest as in a Jesuit, even of the class of the Pro- 
fessed. This Sacchini denies, affirming that it is more 
difficult to make one good Jesuit than a thousand 
priests. The Jesuits, who stood in need of priests, but 
would not enlarge the aristocratic class of the Professed 
members, who alone take the four vows, obtained as 
usual their end by exercising a little cunning. They 
presented themselves for ordination, not as Jesuits, 
but as secular ecclesiastics. 

We pass over a number of interesting incidents 
which happened under the generalship of Borgia 
down to the year 1571, when we find the General, 
though in very ill health, leaving Rome for Spain and 
France, for the purpose of soliciting assistance from 
the respective monarchs of these countries to aid the 
Venetians in a war against the Turks, who were then 
threatening to pour their savage hordes over Europe. 
Philip II. joined the league, and his vessels gained 
some of the laurels which were won at that ever 
memorable battle fought at Lepanto on the 7th Octo- 
ber 1571, when the descendants of the Prophet suffered 
a defeat from which they have never recovered. Before 
Borgia entered Spain, the Inquisition, aware that Philip 
was on the best terms both with him and the Pope, 
published, with the highest eulogium, those same works 
which she had proscribed nine years before when the 
king frowned upon Father Borgia — a most striking 
example of the servility of the Spanish Inquisition 
to the crown. From Spain, Borgia proceeded to 
Portugal, thence to France, at the very time when 
Catherine and Charles were plunged in continual feasts 
and pleasures, the forerunner of what they expected 
to enjoy on Saint Bartholomew's eve. But we have 
no reason to believe that he was at all privy to the 
* See Cret. vol. ii. pp. 25 and following. 



THE GENERALS OF THE ORDER. 



149 



plot. It is not at all likely that the cunning and 
circumspect Catherine of Medicis would be so foolish 
as to confide so important a secret to such a weak- 
brained man. Borgia witnessed the massacre in the 
southern provinces of France, when on his return to 
Rome, where he arrived on the 28th of September 
1572, and where he expired three days after. So 
ended this extraordinary man, whom the Church of 
Rome has enrolled among the saints. Would to God 
that none of them were worse than he ! 

At the opening of the fourth General Congregation 
the Pope inquired of the Jesuit deputies, who had 
gone up according to custom to ask his benison, " How 
many votes each nation had?" The answer was that 
" Spain had more votes than all the rest put together." 
" And from what nation or nations has the General 
been hitherto chosen ? " " From Spain," was the 
reply. " Well," resumed Gregory XIIL, " it would 
be but just, then, that you should, for this once, elect 
one from some other nation." The deputies remon- 
strated ; " but," said the Pope, " Father Mercurianus 
is a very good man," and dismissed them. To another 
deputation, sent purposely to assert their independence 
in the choice of their own General, the Pope answered, 
that he did not impugn their right, that he only re- 
quested of them to inform him if their choice should fall 
upon a Spaniard, before he was officially proclaimed. 
The reason of all this was national jealousy, united 
to the aversion evinced by Spain and Portugal to all 
Christianised Jews and Moors. This aversion was 
shared in by the Court of Rome, and was now 
aroused by the fear of seeing Polancus, a Christianised 
Jew, on the point of being elected General of the 
order, " and it was not thought desirable that the 
supreme authority in a body so powerful and so 
monarchically constituted should be confided to such 
hands.* 

* Saccliini in Ranke's History of the PqpeSj vol. ii. p. 80. 
h 



150 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



Father Mercurianus was chosen. He was *a sim- 
ple and weak old man, a native of Belgium. He 
delivered up the government of the Society first to 
Father Palmio, then to Father Manara. This produced 
internal troubles and the formation of two parties, 
which caused great commotion in the days of his suc- 
cessor. Mercurianus exercised very little influence on 
the destinies of the order, and was the first General 
whose authority was held in little account. He died 
on the 1st of August 1580, at which time the Society 
numbered 5750 members, 110 houses, and 21 pro- 
vinces. The wealth they had acquired was immense ; 
it did not matter how it was got, as the end with them 
sanctified the means. For example, when the troops 
of the ferocious Alva sacked Malines, Father Trigosus 
freighted a vessel with victuals and sailed to Malines 
to buy a great part of the booty, under the pretext of 
giving it back to the proprietors. Doubtless, to deceive 
the fools, he restored some of it to the proper owners, 
but then this was only to a trifling amount ; the re- 
mainder and most valuable portion was employed to 
adorn the College of Antwerp with regal magnificence. 
In France the Jesuits were left heirs to the immense 
fortune of the Bishop of Clermont. In Spain they 
allured into their Society the representatives of two of 
the wealthiest families in that country, for which they 
were brought before the tribunal and condemned. 
Moreover, Gregory XIII. presented them with enor- 
mous sums, and founded no fewer than thirteen of 
their colleges, every one of which was richly endowed ; 
while in Portugal they were almost masters of the 
entire kingdom. We shall by and by examine the 
causes of this unparalleled prosperity. 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 151 



CHAPTER IX. 

1560-1600. 

PROCEEDINGS OF THE JESUITS IN THE DIFFERENT 
COUNTRIES OF EUROPE. 

ENGLAND. 

Many have pronounced it impossible to write an ade- 
quate history of the Jesuits, because, being more or 
less connected with the history of the world, it is no 
easy matter to pass from one event, and from one 
country, to another, and yet follow the chronological 
order, that the reader may have a clear and consecu- 
tive narrative. To obviate this difficulty as far as 
possible, we have, in the preceding chapter, which 
embraces a period of twenty-five years, related only 
the facts connected with the internal history of the 
order; we shall now proceed to those which during 
nearly the same space of time more or less exercised 
an influence upon the history of the different countries 
in Europe. 

Let us begin with England. After the first expedi- 
tion of Brouet and Salmeron in 1541, which we have 
already noticed, Great Britain was no longer troubled 
with Jesuitical missions till the " good Queen Mary 
had expired, to the inestimable damage of the Catholic 
religion."* In 1550, however, the Pope despatched 
to Ireland the Irish Jesuit 5 Davis Wolfe, and after 
three years more, a bishop, accompanied with other 
two Jesuits ; " while," as Sacchini says, " Father 
Chimage, an Englishman, returned home, for the 
purpose of having his health restored by his own 
* Sacch. lib. ii. § 134. 



152 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



native air."* These satellites of the Pope entered 
the country under fictitious names, and as stealthily 
as nocturnal robbers, mendacious in every word they 
uttered, and exciting the people to rebellion against 
the " impious " queen. However, the vigilance of Eli- 
zabeth's police prevented them for the time being from 
doing any material injury. Wolfe, guilty of a thousand 
immoralities, was dismissed the Society, and the others 
were obliged to return to Rome. 

About this time (1562), Father Gandon was sent 
into Scotland to exhort and encourage Queen Mary to 
be faithful to her religion. This was, perhaps, the 
avowed motive, but, doubtless, he had received similar 
instructions to those given by Paul III. to Brouet and 
Salmeron. Mary admitted him by a postern door into 
her palace, and had three secret conferences with him ; 
but his steps were traced, he was pursued, and a price 
set upon his head. The Jesuit, who, it seems, had no 
taste for martyrdom, left Scotland, but not before he 
had done some mischief. He departed, along with 
several young noblemen, whom he had seduced, and 
who accompanied him to be educated in Flanders. 
" They were hostages to the Church, and were after- 
wards to return home, carrying thither the faith with 
them." | About the same period, William Allen, 46 to 
perpetuate," as Butler says, "the Catholic ministry 
in England," resolved upon establishing colleges 
abroad, in which English priests should be educated, 
preparatory to exercising their calling at home. His 
exertions were crowned with success. A college, which 
he consigned into the hands of the Jesuits, was esta- 
blished in Douay in 1568, and Pope Gregory XIII. 
endowed it with £1500 yearly. When the Jesuits 

* It is a remarkable fact that during the reign of the bigoted and per- 
secuting Mary, the Jesuits did not make their appearance in England. 
Cardinal Pole, to whom they had made several applications to be per- 
mitted to establish themselves in Great Britain, always refused his con- 
sent. Pole kneiv Loyola intimately. 

f Cret. vol. i. p. 463. 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 153 

were expelled from Douay, and their college sacked 
by the people, the Cardinal of Lorraine called them 
to Rheims. This happened in 1576. The same Pope 
Gregory established another college in Rome for the 
education of English youth, and for the purpose of 
imbuing their minds with hatred to their sovereign 
and country. The Jesuits had the superintendence 
of this also. Hence proceeded those priests and 
Jesuits, who, with brands of discord in their hands, 
departed to set their country on fire. Many Jesuits 
were sent to Great Britain between the years 1562 
and 1580, and they all received the same instructions, 
and acted in the same manner. Elizabeth, who at 
the beginning of her reign had exercised a spirit 
of toleration towards her Catholic subjects, was now 
greatly incensed against them, driven, as she was, to 
extremities by the continual torrent of abuse which 
was poured upon her head by the sectarians of Rome. 
The holy Pius V., on the 5th of February 1570, fulmi- 
nated a bull of excommunication against " Elizabeth, 
the so-called queen of England, who, after having 
usurped the throne, has dared to assume the title of 
supreme chief of the Church, and, moreover " . . . [here 
the bull enumerates all Elizabeth's crimes]. "We, 
therefore," the bull continues, " by the authority which 
is given to us, declare that the aforesaid Elizabeth, and 
all her adherents, have incurred excommunication; 
that she has forfeited her pretended right to the 
crown of England; and we deprive her of it, and 
of all other rights, domains, privileges, and dignities. 
We absolve the Lords and the Commons of the realm, 
and all others her subjects, from the oath of allegiance 
which they may have tendered to her, prohibiting them 
from obeying her commands, ordinances, and procla- 
mations, under the penalty of being excommunicated 
in like manner." * 

The abuses poured upon her by priests and Jesuits 

* See the whole Bull in Cret. vol. ii. page 241. 



154 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



were most revolting and insulting. Without referring 
to ancient writers, we shall quote a passage from 
Cretineau, a writer of the present civilised and tolerant 
age, that our readers may have an idea of what must 
have been the scurrility of those times of fanaticism and 
intestine commotions. " The Holy See," says the 
French historian, " had frequently cursed the heiress 
and daughter of Henry VIII. The Catholics, on the 
other hand, having penetrated, along with all England, 
into her licentious and voluptuous private life, refused 
to salute the mistress of Leicester with the name of 
maiden queen, to worship her caprices, or to applaud 
her hypocritical passions/'* 

Nor were the Roman Catholies merely contented 
with attacking Elizabeth by words — their deeds were 
yet more criminal. Long before this, Allen solicited 
the General of the Jesuits to establish a house in Eng- 
land. But it seems that the General and the Pope were 
waiting their own time, and that they did not resolve 
till the year 1579 to grace Great Britain with a per- 
manent Jesuitical establishment. When this resolution 
was made known, the most distinguished members of 
the Society implored, on their knees (as it is reported), 
to be sent to England to brave the persecutions 
of Elizabeth; Mercurianus told them, however, that 
English Jesuits should be preferred for this mis- 
sion. In consequence of this declaration, Fathers 
Campion and Parson were chosen to head the mission, 
which was composed of thirteen members.f It arrived 
at the sea-coast of France, about the month of June 
1580. Campion and Parson were both fellows of Ox- 
ford University, and not the least among its professors 
and tutors. It seems that both of them were Catholics at 
heart, though they pretended to be Protestants. The 
Jesuits affirm that Parson was dismissed the University 
because of his Catholic sentiments, while the other 
party assigns his immoral conduct as the reason. 
* Cret. vol. ii. p. 269. + Cret. vol. ii. p. 255. 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 155 



Both took the oath; both, we are assured, repented it all 
their lives. Both left the university, and after various 
vicissitudes, and the necessary probation, were received 
among the sons of Loyola. As we may believe, Cecil's 
police knew almost all the movements of these self- 
invited visitors. Their intended landing in England 
was announced to all the authorities, their persons 
were carefully described, and orders were given for 
arresting them the moment they put foot on shore. 
But all was to no purpose. The Jesuits eluded every 
vigilance, and Father Parson, upon arriving at Dover, 
played to the officer who had the charge of examining 
the passengers, a trick that would shame any modern 
Robert Macaire. He gave out that he was a captain 
returning from Flanders ; and being dressed suitably 
to the character assumed, so well did he perform his 
part, that the inspecting officer received him with 
every species of civility and courtesy, shook hands with 
him, and promised, moreover, to shew every attention 
to one of the captain's merchant friends, who, as that 
impostor intimated, was expected every day from the 
Continent, and who proved to be no other than Father 
Campion. When the latter arrived in London, Parson 
was on the banks of the Thames to receive him, and 
saluted and cheered him with the air of one meeting a 
long absent friend, so that no one could have suspected 
that all was an artifice and a trick.* 

The Jesuits, once in England, lost no time in com- 
mencing operations. A meeting of all the missionaries 
and secular priests was summoned. Parson pre- 
sided. He was too cunning to declare publicly the 
end of their mission, as he did not wish to frighten the 
timid with the announcement of some dangerous en- 
terprise. He disclaimed all political objects, and said 
that he only aimed at the conversion of England in 
co-operation with the secular priests ; and swore that 
this was his only intention, j But then appealing to a 
* See Bartoli dell' lag. F. 101, 102, 104 t Bartoli, ibid. 



156 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



decree of the Council of Trent, he forbade the Catho- 
lics to attend divine service in Protestant churches, 
and recommended strict nonconformity. In the com- 
pany of the more faithful, he inveighed most bitterly 
against the queen, and pointed out with what ease she 
might be dethroned, by the assistance of the King of 
Spain and the Pope. Such exhortations as this caused 
a great ferment among the Roman Catholics. 

" Swarms of Jesuits and Papists (from the seminaries 
of Pome and Rheims), impelled by religious enthusiasm, 
sedulously cultivated for that very purpose, and desir- 
ous of returning to their own country, were constantly 
pouring into the kingdom."* Parson, who was the 
Provincial, guided all their movements, and himself 
went from place to place to excite the worst passions 
of man's nature in the breasts of those who sought 
him, as their spiritual father, to confer peace and con- 
solation. A great stir soon became visible among the 
lloman Catholics. People talked of nothing else than 
conspiracy and revolt. Sinister rumours were afloat, 
and acquired new strength from day to day, as is al- 
ways the case in times of excitement, when some 
strange idea always pervades the minds of the multi- 
tude. It was now the general belief throughout Eng- 
land that every Roman Catholic was a traitor, and 
at the bidding of the priests was ready to become an 
assassin. A general massacre of the Protestants by 
the Papists, assisted by the invasion of a foreign 
power, was talked of as a matter of more than probable 
occurrence. Above all, Elizabeth — the beloved queen 
— the idol of the people — was in danger every moment 
of being murdered. Books were daily printed denoun- 
cing more or less particularly their abominable ma- 
chinations. These gave consistency to the popular 
belief. This belief extended from the lowest to the 
highest ranks of society, and put the nation into an 
indescribable state of excitement. The government, 

, * Ranke's Hist, of the PopeSj vol. i. p. 512. (Eng. trans.) 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 



157 



satisfied that the Jesuits were the cause of all these 
troubles, and with the view of quieting the popular 
commotions, issued a proclamation, which may have 
been considered just in those days, but which we, who 
live in a more tolerant age, must unconditionally con- 
demn. Among its other enactments were the follow- 
ing: — "That whosoever had any children, wards, 
kinsmen, or other relations in parts beyond the seas, 
should after ten days give in their names to the 
ordinary, and within four months call them home 
again, and when they had returned, should forthwith 
give notice of the same to the said ordinary. That 
they should not, directly or indirectly, supply such as 
refused to return with any money. That no man 
should entertain in his house or harbour any priests 
sent forth from the aforesaid seminaries, or Jesuits, or 
cherish and relieve them. And that whosoever did to 
the contrary, should be accounted a favourer of rebels 
and seditious persons, and be proceeded against ac- 
cording to the laws of the land/'* 

The proclamation was boldly answered by pamphlets 
from each of the Jesuits. Parson's was full of virulence 
towards the Protestants, and Campion's, although writ- 
ten in a more moderate tone, was no less offensive. This 
last was entitled Ten Reasons. It was a defence of the 
Church of Rome and its supremacy, and made no little 
noise, f In both of these writings, it was protested 
that the Jesuits were in England solely for the pur- 
pose of exercising their holy ministry, and not for any 
political end whatever ; that, on the contrary, they had 
come to modify the Bull of Pius V. Cretineau says, 
that " Parson and Campion would not leave Rome 
until they obtained from the Holy See this concession 
(the modification of the Bull), which would greatly 
facilitate their apostolic mission ; even the Protestants 

* Camden, a.b. 1580. 

t It was secretly printed in Lady S tour's house, and widely circulated. 
—See Cret. vol. ii, p. 272. 



158 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS, 



themselves mention this in their annals as a fact."* 
And in a note he cites " Camden." We shall quote 
for him the passage of the English annalist. 

" Kobert Parson and Edmund Campion were author- 
ised by Gregory XIII. in these words : — An explica- 
tion of the bull issued by Pius V. against Elizabeth 
and her adherents is sought for from our supreme 
lord, since the Catholics desire that it be thus under- 
stood, that it should always bind her and the heretics, 
but by no means the Catholics, as matters now stand, 
but only when the execution of the same bull be 
publicly ordered. The supreme Pontiff granted the 
aforesaid grace to Father Robert Parson and Edmund 
Campion when about to set out to England, on the 
13th April 1580, in the presence of Father Oliver 
Manara assistant."! 

We might perhaps say that this pretended conces- 
sion is rather an aggravation of the bull than any- 
thing else ; but we shall be generous, and give it the 
best interpretation possible. But then, if we prove 
that all this was a wily cunning contrivance, that the 
Jesuits might have greater chance of success in their 
treacherous projects, their crime will be still more 
execrable. Let us examine. The facts, it is true, are 
far from us, and the actors have long ago departed to 
their accounts : True ; but then the deductions of 
logic from well-authenticated facts still remain to us, 
and are equally convincing. The J esuits assert that 
the Pope, out of leniency and benignancy towards 
England and its queen, had ordered them not to 

* Cret. vol. ii. p. 266. 

*t* "Robertus Parsonius.et Edmundus Campionus facultatem impetra- 
runt, a Gfregorio XIII. in hsec verba. Petatur a summo Doinino nostro 
explicatio Bullae Declaratorise per Pimm V. contra Elizabetham et ei ad- 
hoerentes, quern Catholicis cupiunt intelligi hoc modo, lit obliget semper 
illam et hsereticos, Catholicos vero nullo modo rebus sic stantibus, sed 
turn demum quando publica ejusdem Bullae executio fieri poterit. Has 
prcedictas gratias concessit summus Pontilex Padri Roberto Parsonio et 
Kdmundo Campionio, in Anglicam profecturis die 13 Aprilis 1580, prae- 
seate Padre Oliverio Manarco assistente."— Camden, p. 464. 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 



159 



force upon the Eoman Catholic believers the clause of 
his predecessor's bull which forbade thein, under pain 
of excommunication, to consider Elizabeth as their 
legitimate sovereign. Well, if the rest of the Pope's 
conduct leads us to believe in the sincerity of this 
mandate, we shall absolve them of every crime, and 
say that the Jesuits proceeded to England with the 
best intentions, and were martyrs to their faith. But 
who was this pacific and tolerant Pope ? It was Gre- 
gory XIII. ; that same Gregory who, at the news of 
Saint Bartholomew's infernal feast, went in procession 
to the French Church in Rome, offered up thanksgiv- 
ings to the Almighty for the blood of 50,000 of His 
creatures barbarously butchered, and had medals 
struck to commemorate this glorious event ! It was 
this same Gregory who had on the previous year sup- 
plied the ruffian Stukely with money, arms, and troops 
for the invasion of England, whilst the Catholics in the 
interior were ordered to rise in rebellion in his fa- 
vour.* It was this identical Gregory who at the same 
time sent into Ireland the famous Dr. Sanders, as the 
Pope's legate, with a bull declaring the invasion a 
regular crusade with all its privileges! It was that 
same Gregory who, says Ranke, " excited and en- 
couraged all those insurrections which Elizabeth had 
to contend with in Ireland."! All these facts, proving 
Gregory's inexorable hatred towards the Protestants, 
and his determined desire to dethrone Elizabeth, hap- 
pened shortly before and after the mission of the 
Jesuits. And yet it is pretended that this same man 
forbade the Jesuits from mixing in political affairs, and 
that, on the contrary, he charged them to preach obedi- 
ence to the queen ! We believe that few will give the 

* It is well known that this adventurer, whom the Pope had made 
his chamberlain, when off the coast of Portugal with the fleet which 
had been equipped for the invasion, was persuaded by king Sebastian to 
accompany him in his enterprise against Morocco, where he perished 
along with the imprudent monarch of Portugal. 

+ Ranke's Hist, of the Popes, vol. i. p, 324. (Eng. trans.) 



160 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



Jesuits credit on that score, but rather will be satisfied 
they were sent for the purpose of stirring up a rebellion, 
if possible to find an assassin, and that the injunction 
was nothing else than a ruse — an act of duplicity where- 
with the better to succeed in their treasonable designs. 

The government was, however, highly incensed at 
their audacity, and attached the utmost importance 
to their capture. Another proclamation was issued, 
forbidding any one to harbour, protect, or assist the 
Jesuits to escape, and that he who did so would be 
considered guilty of high treason. This produced an 
effect quite contrary to what was intended. Hun- 
dreds of persons who, before the proclamation, shewed 
no liking for the Jesuits, now risked their fortunes, 
their lives, to protect them. So interesting does per- 
secution render a man — so generous are the instincts of 
the people. All the activity, all the vigilance of the 
most energetic and vigilant of governments was for 
t hirteen months baffled by the dexterity and resources 
of the Jesuits. The history of their escapes, and 
the daring methods in which they executed them, is 
both curious and amusing. Space will not permit us 
to indulge in the recital of more than one of those 
marvellous escapes. One evening the house in which 
Parson had sought a retreat was suddenly surrounded 
by a band who were in pursuit of him. Resistance 
or concealment was impossible. Parson at once de- 
termined on what he would do. He went to the door, 
opened it, and calmly asked what they wanted. 
" The Jesuit," was the reply. " Walk in," said he, 
" and search for him quietly ;" and as they entered, 
he went out, and made his escape.* The escapes of 
Campion were no less wonderful. He himself wrote, 
" My dresses are most numerous, my fashions are 
various, and as for names, I have an abundance."! 
The government, enraged at being so often baffled, 
had recourse, we are sorry to say, to persecution. 
* Ann. Litt. 1583. f Bart. dell. Ing. F. 117. 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 



161 



Thousands of citizens were thrown into prison for 
nonconformity, or on mere suspicion. Domiciliary 
visits frequently disturbed even the inoffensive and 
peaceful Papists, whilst the Jesuit authors of all 
these disturbances and miseries laughed at the 
abortive attempts of their enemies to capture them. 
At last, in July 1581, Elliot, a Papist, betrayed 
Campion. He was arrested along with two other 
priests, in a secret closet in a wall of the castle 
of Yates. They mounted him on the largest horse 
that could be got, tied his legs under it, pinioned his 
hands behind his back, and fixed a placard on his hat 
with this inscription, in great capitals, " Campion, 
the seditious Jesuit." He was brought to London, 
surrounded by a great multitude, vociferating impre- 
cations and curses upon his head. The shouts of jubi- 
lee among the Protestants throughout England were 
deafening, and many a sincere person rejoiced at it, 
as if by this capture the kingdom was rescued from 
imminent danger and certain destruction. 

The contradiction which exists between the Protestant 
and Catholic writers, regarding the treatment, trial, and 
execution of the Jesuits, renders it almost impossible 
for us to arrive at the exact truth. The one party calls 
them innocent martyrs, the other infernal traitors. The 
one complains that they were most unmercifully treated, 
the other, that they had too much lenity shewn them. 
It is, however, an incontestible fact that they were put to 
the torture, and Cretineau is right when he exclaims 
against the Protestants, who, while professing to abhor 
the Papal Inquisition so much, now adopted all its bar- 
barous proceedings. It may be also true, that a jury 
sitting now at Westminster would not find sufficient mate- 
rial from which to condemn them. But we must remind 
the Catholics, that to judge of these events with imparti- 
ality, we must transport ourselves to those times, when 
Ireland was in an almost continual state of rebellion ; 
when England was daily menaced with invasion ; when 



162 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



the Roman Catholics of all Europe spoke of another 
Saint Batholomew; when torrents of imprecations 
were poured out against Elizabeth, her ministers, and 
all her Protestant subjects. We must go back to those 
times when the Jesuits persuaded the Roman Catholics 
that it was a mortal sin for them to acknowledge Eli- 
zabeth's right to the throne ; to those times in which 
the Jesuitical doctrine, that it was lawful, nay meri- 
torious, to kill an excommunicated king, had already- 
been proclaimed ; finally, to those times when the con- 
test had come to this, — " Whether England should be 
Protestant under the sway of Elizabeth, or Catholic 
under Mary of Scotland, or Philip of Spain." That 
the Jesuits and the Pope caused all this, agitation, 
there can be no doubt whatever. Hume, quoting a 
passage from Camden, and Walsingham's letter in 
Burnet, appears to me to assign the most plausible 
reason for it in the following words : — " And though 
the exercise of every religion but the established one 
was prohibited by the statute, the violation of this law, 
by saying mass, and receiving the sacrament in pri- 
vate houses, was, in many instances, connived at; 
while, on the other hand, the Catholics, at the begin- 
ning of her reign, shewed little reluctance against go- 
ing to church, or frequenting the ordinary duties of 
public worship. The'Pope, sensible that this practice 
would by degrees reconcile all his partisans to the Re- 
formed religion, hastened the publication of the bull, 
which excommunicated the queen, and freed her sub- 
jects from their oath of allegiance ; and great pains 
were taken by the emissaries of Rome to render the 
breach between the two religions as wide as possible, 
and to make the frequenting of Protestant churches 
appear highly criminal in the Catholics. These prac- 
tices, with the rebellion which ensued, increased the 
vigilence and severity of the government ; but the 
Romanists, if their condition were compared with that 
of the nonconformists in other countries, and with 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 163 

their own maxims where they domineered, could not 
justly complain of violence or persecution."* 

The truth of this assertion is rendered still more 
evident by a petition of the English Catholic priests 
themselves, addressed to the Pope, in which they say, 
" That those fathers (the Jesuits) were the sole authors 
of all the troubles which agitated the English Church; 
that, previous to the Jesuits' coming to England, no 
Catholic had been accused of high treason ; that 
they no sooner made their appearance in Great Bri- 
tain, than the aspect of things began to undergo a 
change; that their political ambition was manifest; 
and that they had set a price on the crown, and put 
the kingdom to auction."! These were the times and 
the circumstances in which, on the 20th of November 
1581, Campion and fifteen other priests were brought 
to trial at Westminster. They were all condemned, 
and three Jesuits, Campion, Sherwin, and Briant, 
were publicly executed. Cretineau and the other 
Jesuit historians give them the name of martyrs. 
Hume, on the contrary, following the historians of the 
epoch, says, that " Campion was detected in treason- 
able practices, and being put to the rack, confessed 
his guilt, and was publicly executed.":}: It is repeat- 
edly affirmed in the Justitia Britannica, and partly 
proved, that they were convicted of treason and con- 
spiracy against the life of the queen. One strong 
proof against Campion, was the production of a letter 
which he had found means to forward to Father Pond, 
another Jesuit prisoner in the Tower, and in which 
he writes : — I feel in myself courage enough, and 
I hope I shall have the strength, not to let drop from 
my mouth one single word which may be prejudicial 
to the Church of God, no matter what may be the 
torments." § But we repeat, even though proofs 
had been deficient for a strictly legal condemnation, 

* Hume, chap. xl. (a.d. 1579). + See De Thou, a.d. 1587. 
$ Hume, chap. xli. (a.d. 1580). § Cret. vol. ii. p. 280. 



164 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



there is, nevertheless, a strong moral certitude of their 
having been conspirators, purposely sent into England 
to cause a revolt, and, if possible, to procure the as- 
sassination of the queen. Thus, whatever may be the 
objection raised against the legality of the form, no 
one will deny the substantial justice by which they 
were punished. 

After the capture of Campion, Parson, like a prudent 
general, not wishing to risk his own person, on which 
so much depended, left England for France, where, 
feeling himself secure, he gave vent to his hatred, 
poured out curses and maledictions on the whole Eng- 
lish nation, and set on foot new plots and new conspi- 
racies. In conjunction with Dr Allen, the Guises, and 
the Bishop of Glasgow (Mary's Resident at the court 
of France), he sent over to Scotland Father Creighton, 
for the purpose of converting James VI. to Romanism, 
and of exciting him to join the Pope and the King of 
Spain in war against England, promising him money 
and all sorts of favours from both these monarchs. 
Creighton frequently crossed over from France to 
Scotland to effect this league ; and once, when on his 
way, the vessel in which he was conveyed being seized, 
he tore some papers, with the design of throwing 
them into the sea, but the wind blowing them back 
upon the deck, the pieces were arranged together, 
and brought to light some dangerous secrets.* 

The famous William Parry was detected about the 
same time. This man, who had received the queen's 
pardon for a crime deserving capital punishment, went 
to travel. He repaired to Venice, where he was per- 
suaded by Father Palmio, the Provincial of the 
Jesuits in that locality, that he could not do a more 
meritorious action than kill his sovereign and benefac- 
tress. Campeggio, the Pope's nuncio, approved of 
this ; and Ragazzoni, the Pope's legate in Paris, to 
confirm him in this criminal enterprise, promised Mm 
* Camden in Hume, chap. xli. (a.d. 1584). 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 165 

from the Holy See, not only absolution, but also the 
Pope's paternal benediction, and a plenary indulgence 
for all his sins. Morgan, a Catholic gentleman resid- 
ing in Paris, gave him additional encouragement. 
Parry returned to England, where, after some delay, 
he disclosed his design to Nevil, who resolved to have 
a share in the merit of its execution. Both deter- 
mined to sacrifice their lives in the fulfilment of a 
duty which they were taught was agreeable to the 
will of God, and for the interests of the true religion. 
But while they were watching for a fit opportunity to 
put this execrable parricide into execution, the Earl of 
Westmoreland died in exile ; and as Nevil was the next 
heir to the family possessions, he, in the hope of being 
put into the family estates and honours, betrayed the 
whole conspiracy. Parry was arrested, and confessed 
his guilt both to the ministry and to the jury who tried 
him. The letter of the Cardinal of Como, in which he 
announced to Parry that the Holy Father sent him abso- 
lution, his blessing, and plenary indulgence, was pro- 
duced before the court, and put Parry's declaration 
beyond all doubt.* He was condemned, and received 
the punishment due to his treason. Parry, among 
other revelations, said that he had informed Father 
Creighton of his purpose ; and as this Jesuit was in prison 
at the time, he was examined concerning Parry. At 
first he denied all acquaintance with him, but he sub- 
sequently wrote to Walsingham, confessing that Parry 
had indeed declared to him his intention of taking the 
queen's life, and had also asked his opinion on the 
matter ; that he (Creighton) answered that it was not 
lawful to do so, omnino non liceret ; that, on being 
pressed by Parry, whether, to save the bodies and 
souls of many, it was not lawful to take away a single 
life, he, the J esuit, answered, that even in this case one 
ought not to attempt such a deed without, at least, 
feeling an inspiration from, ahove.\ This answer, in 

* State Trials, vol. i. pp. 103, 104. f Camden and De Thou. 
M 



166 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



my opinion, was more apt to inflame the fanaticism 
of the man than to check him in his parricidal pro- 
jects. And yet this was all that Creighton could 
say in his own justification. Now it is astonishing 
with what impudence Cretineau tries to pervert the 
truth of this affair. Listen to his narrative. He pre- 
tends that Walsingham had sent Parry to the Conti- 
nent in order to test the fidelity of the Jesuits ; that 
he revealed to many of them his design to murder 
Elizabeth, and was dissuaded by all from the commit- 
tal of such an abominable crime ; that, being introduced 
by an English gentleman (Morgan, no doubt) to the 
Pope's legate, Ragazzoni, he, Parry, presented to him 
a petition, craving the holy father's blessing, and 
absolution of his sins; that, having returned to 
England, he was introduced to the queen, to whom 
he related that the Jesuits, and the partisans of Mary 
Stewart, had excited him to take away her life ; that 
he was not credited by the queen ; that he had sub- 
sequently fallen into indigence ; that misery and de- 
spair had inspired him with the thought of executing 
in reality the imaginary crime which he pretended 
to have meditated with the Jesuits.* And to explain 
Cardinal Como's letter, he adds — "As to the Pope's 
indulgences and absolution, no matter how great these 
favours may appear to the eyes of the pious and the 
faithful, aux yeux de la piete, et de la foi, it must, 
nevertheless, be confessed, that every one may obtain 
them without being obliged to assassinate a heretic prin- 
cess." f Although the absurdity of these justifications 
be already quite manifest, we shall suggest one or two 
observations. What interest could Walsingham have 
had in sending Parry to know the opinion of the 
Jesuits upon the projected murder of the queen? 
These Jesuits were safe from the minister's anger, since 

* w La misere et le desespoir lui inspirerent la pensee d'executer en 
realite le crime imaginaire qu'il pretendait avoir medite avec les Je- 
suit es." 

f Cret. vol. ii. p. 302. 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 167 



they were in foreign countries. Parry did not set plots 
on foot "which should involve many persons, whose 
names it might have been useful to know; he did not 
ask to be made privy to any secret, or to be sent back 
to England directed to some Popish partisan to dis- 
cover and betray him. Ko — he was only sent for the 
pleasure of knowing what answer the Jesuits would 
give to his question — " May I, or may I not, kill the 
queen V 7 But Walsingham was not only a stupid, he 
was also an ungrateful, minister. He employed a man 
in a most serious and delicate affair, he disclosed to 
that same man dangerous and rather disgraceful 
secrets, and that man, immediately after he had ac- 
complished his mission, was driven to extremities for 
want of food ! Alas ! Monsieur Cretineau, your at- 
tempted justification proves the culpability of your 
Jesuits more forcibly than any other proof could. 

A severe law was now passed by parliament against 
the Jesuits. The law enacted that they should depart 
the kingdom within forty days ; that those who should 
remain beyond that time, or should afterwards return, 
should be guilty of treason ; that those who harboured 
or relieved them should be guilty of felony ; that those 
who were educated in seminaries, if they did not return 
in six months after notice given, and did not submit 
themselves to the queen, before a bishop, or two jus- 
tices, should be guilty of treason ; and that, if any bo 
submitting themselves, should within ten years ap- 
proach the court, or come within ten miles of it, their 
submission should be void.* 

Of fifty or sixty Jesuits, a part being frightened, left 
England of their own accord, while the rest were dis- 
covered and sent away, but only to become still more 
dangerous enemies. We beg to quote a passage from 
Hume regarding the too famous conspiracy of Babing- 
ton, which passage exactly expresses our ideas upon 
the subject : — 

* 22 Eliz. c. ii. 



168 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



" The English seminary at Rheims had wrought 
themselves up to a high pitch of rage and animosity 
against the queen. The recent persecutions from 
which they had escaped ; the new rigours which they 
knew awaited them in the course of their missions ; 
the liberty which at present they enjoyed, of declaim- 
ing against that princess ; and the contagion of that 
religious fury which everywhere surrounded them in 
France ; — all these causes had obliterated within them 
every maxim of common sense, and every principle of 
morals or humanity. Intoxicated with admiration of 
the Divine power and infallibility of the Pope, they 
revered his bull, by which he excommunicated and de- 
posed the queen ; and some of them had gone to that 
height of extravagance as to assert, that the perform- 
ance had been immediately dictated by the Holy 
Ghost. The assassination of heretical sovereigns, and 
of that princess in particular, was represented as the 
most meritorious of all enterprises ; and they taught, 
that whoever perished in such attempts, enjoyed with- 
out dispute the glorious and never-fading crown of 
martyrdom. By such doctrines they instigated a man 
of desperate courage, who had served some years in 
the low countries under the Prince of Parma, to 
attempt the life of Elizabeth ; and this assassin having 
made a vow to persevere in his design, was sent over 
to England, and recommended to the confidence of 
the more zealous Catholics."* 

It would be too tedious to follow the Jesuits in all 
their machinations against both the queen and the 
state, neither would it afford any additional instruc- 
tion. We shall pass in silence the efforts of Father 
Garnet to raise a revolt when the Invincible Armada 
was approaching. We shall not even quote a pas- 
sage from Cretineau, where he confesses without the 
least hesitation that Philip II. had sent a host of 
Jesuits alon£ with the Armada, while Father Solarez 
* Hume's Hist, of Eng. chap. xlii. 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 169 

by his order went on a pilgrimage to J erusalem to im- 
plore Divine aid for its success. We shall not further 
demonstrate, that if they were not the prime movers of 
every plot, they were at least implicated less or more 
in them all. Nor shall we detain our readers with 
details of the deeds they performed in Scotland, where 
their influence depended in great part, as the Jesuits 
assert, upon the state of friendship between James and 
Elizabeth. We shall merely translate a single passage 
from their historian: — "After the death of Mary 
Stuart/' says Cretineau, "James seemed disposed to 
break up all intercourse with England ; and, that this 
rupture might be the better publicly attested, James 
not only granted to the Jesuits a free access into his 
dominions, but also himself invited them to come."* 
We give this quotation as we find it, without being 
responsible for its veracity ; but it will be sufficient to 
prove that the Jesuits, even from the confession of 
their own party, were the most perfidious and dange- 
rous enemies that England ever had to contend with. 
And as they were then, so they are still. If they 
hated England and Queen Elizabeth in the 16th 
century, they bear no less hate to England and Queen 
Victoria in the 19th. Let an opportunity present 
itself, and you shall see them again heading the re- 
bellion, and preaching murder as the most meritorious 
of all actions. Nor do they remain inactive while 
waiting for the opportunity. Their evil genius is con- 
stantly present and active. Many are the parents 
whose last days are saddened with the thought that 
their children have forsaken the green pastures and 
the untainted waters of pure gospel truth, for the 
turbid waters of adulterous Babylon, — these children, 
once the worshippers of God, now the idolaters of man, 
whom some disguised son of Loyola, skilfully insinu- 
ating himself into their young minds and unsuspecting 
hearts, has seduced from the right path. These riots, 

* Cret. vol. ii. p. 309. 



170 



BISTORT OF THE JESUITS. 



that blood spilt at Stockport, Dublin, Belfast, and 
elsewhere — the attempted beginning of a civil war — 
believe me, is due to the Jesuits, some of whom, while 
in the confessional or in the midst of private circles 
they speak with feigned devotion of the infallibility 
and supremacy of their Church, always find means, at 
the same time, of exciting, indirectly it may be, the 
ignorant and the bigoted against the Protestants ; while 
the hypocritical occupation of others in the public 
streets will be to pour out torrents of bitter invectives 
against the abominations of the Court of Rome, and 
stir up the worst passions of the Protestants against 
their fellow-citizens the Papists ! What, it may natu- 
rally be asked, could prompt the latter to such infer- 
nal wickedness? The accomplishment, I answer, of 
their mysterious designs, though this should be at the 
cost of the blood of thousands of their unoffending 
fellow-beings. Such demoniacal perfidy might well, 
to the honour of mankind, be scarcely credited ; but 
listen to what I am going to relate. The fact is unfor- 
tunately too notorious to be contradicted, and will go 
far to afford an insight into the character of the 
Jesuits. In our last struggle, in that mortal combat 
which we, poor and inexperienced as we were, 
fought single-handed against the Pope and all his 
supporters, for civil and religious liberty, when Rome 
was besieged and the trumpet sounded daily for 
battle, a man of prepossessing appearance, wearing a 
beard and moustache, was seen going about from place 
to place, praising the soldiers for their valour, encourag- 
ing the citizens not to desert their walls, inflaming the 
minds of the youth with the glory of dying for one's 
country, and cursing the French, the Pope, and espe- 
cially the Jesuits. .No one knew who he was, but many 
a one admired him, and gave him credit for being 
an ardent patriot. One day, however, some of the 
[National Guards perceived a sort of telegraph on a 
house behind the Quirinal, almost over the wall of the 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 



171 



city, and which belonged to the Jesuits. They forced 
an entrance into the premises, and there found three 
persons making signals to the enemy. These three 
were Jesuits, and one of them was recognised as the 
very incognito who, a few hours previously, was 
encouraging the people to fight. They were arrested, 
and when on their way to the state prison, the Jesuit 
wearing the moustache being recognised by some 
women, they tore him from the hands of the escort, 
stabbed him, and threw both him and his companions 
into the Tiber. Five persons were afterwards taken 
and executed under suspicion of being accomplices in 
this criminal action. I beg to be excused for having 
indulged in these remarks. They are wrung from a 
man who has witnessed many of their iniquities, and 
experienced much of their perfidy. I may, however, 
assure the reader that the narrator will not be influ- 
enced by these recollections. 



PORTUGAL. 

If the conduct of the Jesuits in Portugal was not of so 
criminal a nature as in England, it was certainly far 
more bold, and productive of more disastrous conse- 
quences to the Portuguese nation. We have already 
seen that the Jesuits had, from the very first, acquired 
great influence in that country, an influence which, after 
the death of John III., became paramount. During 
and after the minority of Don Sebastian, the Jesuits 
were the confessors of all the royal family. Consalves 
de Camera was first the tutor and afterwards the confes- 
sor of the young king, and possessed such an ascen- 
dancy over his mind, that nothing important was done 
without his consent or that of his brother Martin, 
Count of Calhette. Catherine of Austria, sister of 
Charles V., and grandmother to the king, a wise and 
clear-sighted princess, dismissed her confessor, and 



172 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



complained to General Borgia of the domineering 
spirit of the Jesuits. For this she was deprived of 
the regency, which devolved on Cardinal Henry, de- 
voted both soul and body to the order. Meanwhile 
Don Sebastian had reached manhood, and the nation 
was impatient to see him married, that the line of royal 
descent might be unbroken. A French princess, and a 
daughter of the emperor Maximilian, were considered 
fit matches, but were both rejected. The Jesuits were 
accused of preventing Don Sebastian from marrying, 
with the design of making a Jesuit of him, and then 
becoming heirs to his throne. Strange as this accusa- 
tion may appear, yet it is true m its principal part. Let 
us first listen to what Pasquier, a contemporary histori- 
an, and a celebrated advocate of the Parliament of 
Paris, says on the point: — " The Jesuits, shrewd and well 
advised as they were, saw that this territory (Portugal) 
was a proper soil to make their vine-tree fruitful, and, 
in order that they might the better succeed in their 
projects, on their very entrance into the kingdom they 
caused themselves to be called not Jesuits, but apostles, 
comparing themselves with those who followed our Lord, 
and they are there still designated by the same name. 
The sovereignty having fallen into the hands of Don Se- 
bastian, these good apostles thought that the kingdom 
of Portugal would soon become the property of their 
community ; and they frequently solicited him that no 
one should in future be King of Portugal except a Je- 
suit, and chosen by their own order, in the same way 
that the Popes at Rome are elected by the College of 
Cardinals. And because the king, although supersti- 
tious as superstition itself, could not, or, to speak more 
correctly, dared not, subscribe to their wishes, they 
persuaded him that it had been so ordered by God, 
as he himself would hear by a voice from heaven 
near the sea-shore. This poor prince was so misled 
as to go there two or three times, but they could not 
act their part so well as to make him hear the voice. 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 



173 



They had not as yet in their company an impostor to 
rival Justinian, who in Rome was able to counterfeit the 
leprous. These gentlemen, perceiving that they could 
not gain their ends by this way, did not, however, give 
up the pursuit. This king, J esuit from his soul, would 
not marry. In order to render themselves still more 
important, they advised him to march against the king- 
dom of Fez, where he was killed in a pitched battle. 
This was the fruit which Don Sebastian reaped for 
having believed the Jesuits. What I have just related 
I learned from the deceased Marquis of Pisani, an excel- 
lent Roman Catholic, and the French ambassador at the 
Spanish court." # For our own part, while we are con- 
vinced of the truth of the selfish plot, we do not entirely 
agree with Pasquier in regard to the end which he at- 
tributes to them. Bold and daring as they are, they 
would not have braved popular opinion with such im- 
pudence. They were too clear-sighted not to be aware 
that the European courts would not permit them to 
have the possession of the throne. Yet Pasquier did not 
invent this piece of romance himself. The same, or nearly 
the same, story was repeated throughout all Europe. 
And this is so true, that Father Maggio, Provincial of 
Austria, wrote to Borgia from Prague, in the year 
1571, in the following manner : — " Here the people 
talk of nothing else than of the Portuguese affairs. 
Despatches come from Spain, announcing that the king 
often acts so as to alarm the whole nation. They add, 
that our brethren (les notres) are the instigators of 
such conduct ; that they wish to make a Jesuit of the 
king; and there are not wanting those who assert, 
that they (les notr.es) have alone prohibited him from 
marrying the French king's sister." f 

This letter evidently shews that all Europe be- 
lieved that the Jesuits were masters of Portugal, and 
that they had the disposal of the crown almost en- 

* Pasquier, Catechisme des Jesuites, lib. iii. ch. 16. 
t See Cret. vol. ii. p. 79. 



174 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



tirely at their will. Moreover, as we have seen, the 
Jesuits were accused of having instigated the impetu- 
ous king to undertake the conquest of Morocco, in 
which attempt he lost both his life and his kingdom. 

Let us, however, to be impartial, listen to their 
justification. Cretineau asserts that these accusations 
w r ere calumnies, and gives us the following as proof : — 
On the marriage question, he produces part of a letter 
written by the accused Father Consalves himself, in 
which, after having contradicted most of the calum- 
niations which had been heaped upon him, he adds — 
" So, if I have anything to reproach myself with, it is 
for insisting too much that the marriage might take 
place. Those who told the Pope that the heart of 
the king was in my hands, and that I can direct his 
affections as I please, think of Sebastian what they 
would believe of any other young man of his age. . . 
. . . But he is obstinate, and in this matter he re- 
mains immovable to all my advices." * We shall 
scarcely be blamed, however, if we confess ourselves 
sceptical regarding the truth of these justifications. 

To exculpate the fathers for having induced the king 
to undertake the expedition against Morocco, Cretineau 
quotes a passage from Mendoza, a man entirely de- 
voted to the Jesuits, in which he simply asserts, " That 
all the Jesuits were opposed to the expedition to Africa." 
These two lines, written long after the event, and by 
a partisan of the order, constitute the only proof of 
their innocence which the Jesuits can adduce. 

After such attempted justifications, there can remain 
no doubt that the Jesuits wrested the crown from the 
head of Don Sebastian, to place it upon that of Philip II. 
Philip was at that time the friend and the most power- 
ful supporter of the Jesuits. He was the chief of the 
Pi oman Catholic party — the hope of the Papists — the 
dread of the Protestants. These reasons, I believe, 
induced the Jesuits to accomplish this abominable 
* Cret. vol. U. p. 78. 



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175 



treachery. At the death of Don Sebastian, Cardinal 
Henry assumed the name of king, and asked from the 
estates of Portugal that Philip should be declared his 
successor. They refused. Philip invaded Portugal. 
The Jesuits used all their influence in his favour, ex- 
communicated Don Antonio de Crato, the legitimate 
heir of the crown, and placed Philip on the throne of 
their benefactors. We must observe, that we believe 
that neither the honest and conscientious Borgia nor 
the old and insignificant Mercurianus were privy to 
this treacherous transaction. They were persons in 
no way to be trusted with such secrets. It thus 
happened that the Portuguese monarchs, who first 
nursed these sons of Loyola in their bosoms, found that 
they had been giving life to a serpent, which now stung 
them to the heart. But unfortunately the example 
was lost ; the Portuguese monarchs continued to sub- 
mit to the Jesuits, and one of them, Joseph L, barely 
escaped falling under the poniard of the assassin hired 
by the fathers. 



FRANCE. 

We have seen the Jesuits executed in England as 
traitors. We beheld them in Portugal, as successful 
conspirators, dispose of a sceptre wrested from the 
hands of their benefactors. We shall now see them 
in France acting the part of traitors, conspirators, and 
regicides, and the principal cause of an indescribable 
evil. We have already mentioned the famous arret 
(decision) of 1554, by which the parliament of Paris 
refused to admit the Jesuits into the kingdom. From 
this time, down to the year 1562, the disciples of 
Loyola had repeatedly obtained from the French 
sovereign letters patent authorising their establish- 
ment ; but the parliament by repeated arrets refus- 
ing to register them, rendered these letters nugatory, 



176 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



and the contest went on, with no prospect of decision. 
The king, the Guises, and a party of the nobles, sided 
with the Jesuits. The parliament, the university, the 
Bishop of Paris and his clergy, were against them. 
The principal objection to the admission of the Jesuits 
which was advanced by their adversaries was, that they 
had obtained from the Court of Rome privileges* which 
made them independent of the ordinary and of every 
other ecclesiastical authority. To obviate this objection, 
the Jesuits, in 1560, determined to carry their point, 
presented a petition to the king, in which they renounced 
their privileges, and solemnly engaged to respect the 
laws of the realm and those of the Gallican Church, 
and to submit to the jurisdiction of the ordinaries. f 
The court now imperatively commanded the parlia- 
ment to admit the Jesuits. The Archbishop de 
Belley, vanquished by "the urgency of the court, 
from which he expected the Cardinal's hat," J partly 
withdrew his opposition, and gave his consent, but 
under so many restrictions, that, as Cretineau says, it 
was rather a protest against them than anything else. 
The parliament, which till now had withheld its con- 
sent, leaning on the archbishop's opposition, now 
registered the king's letters patent, but under the 
same restrictions; adding, that the Jesuits might 
appeal to the next national council or assembly. At 
this very time a national council was convened at 
Poissy, to put an end, if possible, to religious dissen- 
sion, and heal the wounds of the Church. Catherine 
de Medici, whose favourite maxim was, divide et im- 

* These are some of the numberless privileges that the Jesuits had ob- 
tained from different Popes even within the first twenty-five years of 
their establishment : — They had the privilege of having a private chapel 
in every house or college, and to celebrate mass even in time of interdict ; 
of absolving from every censure even in cases reserved for the Pope alone ; 
of dispensing from religious vows, or from impediments to marriage ; of 
conferring academical degrees which entitled the graduate to the honours 
and privileges conferred by the royal universities. They were exempted 
from tithes and from all other ecclesiastical contributions ; and, above 
all, they were independent of the jurisdiction of the bishops. 

t See Cret. vol. i. pp. 406, 407. % Ibid. 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 177 

peria, shewed herself impartial in this contest, think- 
ing to retain the obedience of one party by the fear it 
had of the other. She herself, therefore, along with 
the king and the whole court, assisted at the Council 
of Poissy. We shall not enter into the theological 
discussions of this assembly. We shall only say, that 
although a Roman Catholic cardinal presided over and 
directed it, and although the Roman Catholics had a 
large majority, yet the eloquence of the Calvinistic 
divines, and especially that of Beza, was so overpower- 
ing, that Lainez, after having had a thrust or two at 
the redoubted champion, declared it to be almost a 
mortal sin to admit Protestants to a discussion ; and 
by his advice, the Council broke up without any re- 
sult. 

The assembly, before it broke up, after a great deal 
of debating, decided that the Jesuits should be admitted 
on the condition that they submitted to the laws of the 
nation and of the Gallican Church, that the ordinary 
bishops should have all authority over them, and that 
they should renounce all their privileges, and take 
another name than " The Society of Jesus," or 
" Jesuits." By this decision, the Jesuit question was 
at last settled. Now, to shew with what facility these 
wily monks can renounce their most approved doctrines, 
and invent a new principle for every contingency, that 
they may succeed in any of their undertakings, we 
shall set forth the principal points of doctrine of the 
Gallican Church, which were already received in 
France, and which were more solemnly sanctioned in 
1662. 

" The Pope is the chief of the Roman Catholic reli- 
gion, but he can neither excommunicate the king, nor 
lay an interdict upon the kingdom ; nor has he any 
jurisdiction over temporal matters ; nor can he dismiss 
the bishops from their office, who hold their power 
from Christ as his successors, and who, when he 
ascended up into heaven, bade them go and preach 



178 



HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. 



the gospel to every creature. The Pope's legato 
cannot exercise any authority in France, unless em- 
powered by the king. An appeal from the sentence of 
the Pope is permitted to be made to a general council, 
which possesses a power superior to that of the Pope ; 
but even the decrees of council are not received in 
France, when they attack the rights of the king, or 
those of the Gallican Church; for which reason the 
Council of Trent itself was received in France regard- 
ing articles of faith, but not regarding matters of dis- 
cipline." * 

These were the principal points to which the Jesuits 
swore conformity. How despicable must be the man 
who is ready to take a special oath for every occasion, 
and to invoke the God of truth to witness his perjury 
and infamy ! 

The Jesuits had no sooner set their foot in France 
than they began to spread rapidly over the country, 
and soon after aspired to enter the university and 
monopolise the whole of the education of the youth. 
With part of the immense fortune bequeathed to them 
by the Bishop of Clermont, of which they at last got 
possession, notwithstanding the opposition of the par- 
liament, they built a college in the Rue St Jacques, near 
the Sorbonne, and, pretending to obey the orders of 
the parliament, which enjoined them to renounce the 
name of the Society of Jesus, they inscribed on the 
front of it, " College of the Society of the Name of 
Jesus." But the university would not admit them 
into its bosom, notwithstanding all the intrigues of the 
fathers and the orders of the Court. Of this protracted 
contest, which terminated in favour of the Jesuits in 
1616, we shall only transcribe part of an apology 

* It is well known that in France the Roman Catholic clergymen are 
divided into ultramontane and Gfallican ; that the latter, under Louis 
Philippe, maintained their independence, and a sort of superiority ; but 
that, under the rule of the pantheist Louis Napoleon, the ultramontane 
party, under the direction and patronage of the Jesuits, has obtained 
the ascendancy, which they exercise with a domineering spirit, and which 
is increasing every day. 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 



179 



addressed by the university to Pope Gregory XIII. — - 
" We do not," wrote the university, " vex either 
churches or private persons ; we do not trouble the 
order of succession; we do not solicit testaments in 
prejudice of the heirs, or appropriate the profits to our 
own interest ; we do not plot devices to seize upon the 
benefices of the monasteries, or of any other ecclesias- 
tical establishment, to enrich ourselves with their pro- 
perty, without being subject to the conditions imposed 
by the founders ; we do not make use of the name of 
Jesus to deceive the consciences of princes, affirming 
that no one remains longer than ten years in purga- 
tory." * 

Our history is becoming too pregnant with grave 
events to allow us to relate matters of secondary im- 
portance. We shall therefore bring down our readers 
to the year 1577, when was formed the celebrated 
league which gave occasion to the bloody and pro- 
tracted civil wars of France, and of which the J esuits 
were the chief instigators. 

Remorse for the massacre of St Bartholomew had 
deprived Charles IX. of his reason, and brought him 
to an early grave. His brother, Henry III., who 
succeeded him, either awed by the fate of Charles, or 
occupied only with his pleasures, allowed those same 
Protestants whom, as Duke of Anjou, he had defeated 
at Moncontour and other places, to live in peace. 
Henry's indolence favoured the ambitious views of 
the Duke of Guise, who aspired at nothing less than 
the throne of France. He and his partisans, parti- 
cularly the Jesuits, stirred up the fanaticism of the 
more bigoted of the citizens against the king, who, 
although a scrupulous observer of all those external 

* Father Malclonat propounded a doctrine, that no one remained in pur- 
gatory longer than ten years ; and this, in order to assure the princes 
that, if the properties of monasteries or other benefices were given to the 
Jesuits, there would be no fear of their ancestors, in general the pious 
founders, roasting in purgatory — who knows how long 1 — if the benefices 
were appropriated to other uses than those for which they were in- 
tended. 



180 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



practices in which the Popish religion chiefly consists, 
■was considered by the Church party a bad Catholic. 
A remedy was to be found, lest France should become 
a Protestant country. An association was accordingly 
set on foot, which took the name of " the League," 
or "Holy Union." The vulgar saw in it the bul- 
wark of the faith — Philip of Spain, indirectly the 
sovereignty of France — and Henry of Guise, the 
throne. The members of this association took the 
following oath : — " I swear to God, the Creator, and 
under penalty of anathema and eternal damnation, 
that I have entered into this Catholic Association, 
according to the form of the treaty which has just 
been read to me, loyally and sincerely either to com- 
mand, or to obey and serve ; and I promise with my 
life and my honour, to continue therein to the last 
drop of my blood, without resisting it or withdrawing 
from it, at any command, or any pretext, excuse, or 
occasion whatsoever." * In 1577, Guise was declared 
chief of the League ; and in 1584, he, a subject, had 
the audacity to enter publicly into a confederacy with 
Philip II. of Spain. The Articles of Alliance pur- 
ported, " that a confederacy, offensive and defensive, 
was entered into betwixt the king and the Catholic 
princes in behalf of themselves and their descendants, 
for the maintenance of the Roman Catholic religion 
in France as well as the Low Countries : and, on the 
death of Henry III., to take measures that Cardinal 
de Bourbon should be appointed his successor; the 
heretic and relapsed princes being for ever excluded 
from the right of succession." f 

Henry III.'s position became very precarious. 
The Guises were in possession of many of the chief 
towns, and Duke Henry was the idol of the people. 
The king, to avoid the impending danger, feigned to 
adhere to the League — declared himself its chief — 
waged war with the Protestants — and consented to 
* Cret. vol. iL p. 3S8. f Ibid. p. 392. 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 181 



give more towns and places of security into the hands 
of his enemies. Nevertheless the king's opponents 
remitted nothing of their hostility, and filled the 
nation with hatred of his person, venting itself in 
curses and imprecations. In Paris, the stronghold of 
the League, the question was publicly discussed 
whether Henry should be deposed. The king 
advanced towards the capital with some troops. Guise 
hastened to it against the king's express command. 
The people took up arms — barricades were erected — 
the royal army was defeated — and the king obliged 
to fly. * Maffei and Cretineau reproach the Duke of 
Guise for allowing him to escape uninjured. Henry, 
concealing his hatred, feigned again to submit, sum- 
moned a parliament to meet at Blois, and conferred 
upon Guise almost unlimited power over the kingdom. 
But in the very moment in which he saw within his 
grasp the prize which he so eagerly sought, he fell, 
along with his brother the cardinal, in the royal 
palace, a victim of the king's revenge. Thus Guise 
perished, not, as he deserved, by the sword of justice, 
but by the poniard of an assassin. The deed cannot 
be excused. The League thundered anathemas 
against the king ; the University of Paris excommu- 
nicated him ; and the parliament declared that " the 
aforesaid Henry of Valois should be condemned to 
make honourable amends, dressed only in his shirt, 
with a rope about his neck, assisted by the execu- 
tioner, and holding in his hand a lighted torch 
weighing thirty pounds; that from that moment he 
should be deposed, and declared unworthy of the 
crown of France ; and that, renouncing all right to it, 
he should be afterwards banished and placed in a 
convent of the Hieromites, there to fast on bread and 
water for the rest of his days." f 

Priests and Jesuits from every pulpit poured out 

* This insurrection was called " the days of the barricades." 
+ Gret. vol. ii. p. 414. 

N • 



182 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



volleys of curses upon that tyrant, who deserved to be 
swept from the face of the earth. And while the 
king, now in league with Henry of Navarre, was 
inarching towards Paris, Clement, a Dominican friar, 
stabbed him at St Cloud, on the first of August 
1589. 

Great was the consternation of the royalists, and 
greater the rejoicing of the adverse party, at this 
tragic event. The Council of Seize * met on the 
6th of September, and addressed a letter to all the 
preachers, in which, among other things, was the 
following exhortation : — " You must justify Jacques 
Clement's deed, because it is the same as that of 
Judith, which is so much commended in Holy Writ." f 
Henry of Bourbon, king of Navarre, the legitimate 
heir, after the death of Henry III., assumed the title 
of king of France, and was supported by the less 
bigoted of the Roman Catholics and by all the 
Calvinists. The Cardinal de Bourbon, on the other 
hand, also took the title of king, and was supported 
hy the fanatic Papists, headed by all the priests and 
monks in the kingdom. Philip of Spain, the life and 
guardian of the League, sent an army to its aid ; and 
the Pope despatched Cardinal Cajetan, accompanied 
by two Jesuits, with large sums of money, to foment 
and maintain the revolt against the excommunicated 
Henry IV. 

Sixtus V. at first shewed great zeal in opposing 
the right of the heretic Henry of Navarre. J He 
promised to send 18,000 infantry and 700 horse into 

* This Council was so called because it was composed of sixteen 
members, representing the sixteen quarters of Paris ; and it possessed 
the supreme authority de facto. In this council the Jesuits had the 
greatest influence, and one of them was a member of it. 

f Cret. vol. ii. p. 404. 

X It is asserted in a memoir of the Seigneur de Schomberg, that after 
the assassination of Guise, Sixtus, through his legate, suggested to 
Henry III. to name one of the Pope's nephews as his successor to the 
throne of France. But we have too good an opinion of Sixtus' saga- 
city to believe him guilty of such an extravagant project, 



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183 



France, He threatened the Venetians . with excom- 
munication for having acknowledged Henry IV. as 
king, and for once relaxed the reins of his well-known 
parsimony, by sending his legate a sum of money to 
continue the war in France. But, when he perceived 
what were the projects of Philip ; when he learned 
that that monarch proposed to marry his daughter 
the Infanta to the young Duke of Guise, who was to 
assume the title of king ; and when Les Seize, in- 
stigated by the Jesuits, renouncing every national 
feeling, went so far as to proclaim Philip king of 
France, Sixtus, afraid of the domineering spirit of 
Philip, and the absolute power he would acquire if 
successful in his design, relaxed in his enmity towards 
Henry — expressed regret for having excommunicated 
him— and gave other tokens of the change his opinion 
had undergone. The legate, however, disregarding 
the Pope's intentions, carried out his first instructions 
with unremitting zeal. * 

The civil war, with all its horrors, lasted for five 
years. To shorten it, Henry descended to an act which 
has tarnished his glory, and the fame of his virtue. 
He abjured the doctrines of Calvinism to enter into 
communion with the Church of Rome, which he de- 
spised, and excused himself by saying, " Paris vaut / 
bien une inesse" — Paris is well worth a mass.f 

But his apostasy availed him little. The Parisians 
continued firm against him. The monks, and espe- 

* Ranke's Hist, of the Popes, vol. ii. p. 25. 

"t How Elizabeth deplored this unprincipled act ! {< Ah, what grief," 
she wrote to him after his apostasy, "and what regrets and what groans 
I have felt in my soul at the sound of such tidings as Morlaut has 
related! My God! is it possible that any human respect should efface 
the terror which Divine fear threateneth ! Can we ever, by arguments 
of reason, expect a good consequence of actions so iniquitous] He who 
has supported and preserved you in mercy, can you imagine that He will 
permit you to advance unaided from on high tc the greatest predica- 
ment] But it is dangerous to do evil in the hope that good will follow 
from it. — Your very faithful sister, Sire, after the old fashion — I have 
nothing to do with the new one — Elizabeth."* 

* Bibl. clu Roi MSS. de Colbert, apud Capefique, N. 251. 



184 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



cially the Jesuits, encouraged them in their resistance. 
Priests and soldiers simultaneously, they passed from 
the pulpit to the besieged walls, replacing the sacer- 
dotal robes by a coat of mail, the crucifix by a spear. 
Solemn processions crossed the town and called 
upon the people to be firm in defence of their faith, 
trusting in God to protect them and to bless their 
impious enterprise. The Pope's legate, dressed in his 
pontifical robes, was foremost in these processions, and 
supported the fanaticism of the multitude, to whom he 
dispensed a thousand benisons. On the other hand, 
Mendoza, the Spanish ambassador, the same who, after 
the assassination of Henry, wrote to his master, 4 ' We 
must ascribe this happy event to the Almighty alone" 
— Mendoza, to divert the hunger of the deluded Pari- 
sians, distributed, in the name of his Most Catholic 
Majesty Philip, some Spanish coin to the populace, 
who, thus encouraged, raised the shout, " Long life to 
our king Philip! 55 It is painful to think of all the 
horrors which this misguided people endured while 
they listened to the persuasions of the priests to per- 
sist in their rebellion. At last hunger, all-powerful 
hunger, proved stronger than the king's army. 
Famished Paris yielded, and Henry ascended the 
throne of his ancestors. 

Thus ended the League. Let us now see what share 
the J esuits had in it. Mezarai, speaking of the League, 
says, "The zealous Catholics were the chief instru- 
ments in it ; the new monks (the Jesuits) the paranymphs 
and trumpeters; and the nobles of the kingdom the 
authors and chiefs. 55 * From its very beginning, the 
Jesuits were the most ardent promoters of the League. 
They ran from place to place, from country to country, 
to enlist new supporters, and to strengthen the tie of 
the holy union. Claude Matthieu, the Provincial, 
went several times from Paris to Rome, to obtain the 

* Mezarai, Abrege Chronologique in the year 1576. 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 185 



Pope's approval of the holy union.* He was called the 
messenger of the League; and Pasquier, in his old, 
quaint style, in speaking of another Jesuit, says, "As 
the Company of the J esuits was composed of all sorts 
of people, les uns pour la plume, les autres pour le 
poil, so they had among them one Father Henry 
Sammier, a man inclined and adapted to all kinds 
of daring.t He was sent by the League in 1581 to 
various Catholic princes pour sonder le gue, to sound 
the ford ; and, to speak the truth, they could not have 
chosen a fitter man, for he changed himself into as 
many different forms as the different affairs he had to 
undertake — sometimes dressed as a trooper, sometimes 
as a priest, sometimes as a simple beggar. He was 
acquainted with cards, dice, ... as well as with his 
canonical hours ; and in doing this, he said that he could 
not sin, since it was to arrive at a good end." J But, 
without referring to ancient authors, two lines from 
Cretineau will say more than we could. " It was at 
this epoch" (1584), says he, " that the League acquired 
all its consistency, and it is at the same epoch that you 
may see the Jesuits in Paris, Lyons, Toulouse, joining 
the insurrection and organising it."§ And of this 
insurrection, or civil war, Pasquier, an eye-witness, 
says, — " It was less a civil war than a coupe-gorge — 
a cut-throat. The colleges of the Jesuits were, as 
was notorious, the general rendezvous of persons hos- 
tile to the king. There were fabricated their gospels 
in cipher — se forgoient leurs Evangiles en chiffre — 
which they sent into foreign countries. There their 

* Cretineau pretends that Gregory XIII., the father of all Christians, 
wishing rather to pacify than excite their passions, refused to comply 
with their request. But Ranke affirms that his approbation was given, 
and refers, as proof thereof, to a letter of Father Matthieu himself to the 
Duke of Nerves, reported in the fourth volume of Capefique Reforme. 

f Ranke's Hist, of the Popes, vol. i. p. 505. 

X See, for the first part, Cret. vol. ii. p. 392. As he does not quote 
the latter part, see for it Pasquier, or Histoire Generate de la Naissance 
et du Progres de la Compagnie de Jesus, vol. i. p. 180. 

§ Cret. vol. ii. p. 391. 



186 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



apostles were distributed among the different provinces, 
some, to keep the troubles alive by their preaching, as 
did Father Commolet in Paris, and Father Rouillet at 
Bourges; others, to preach murder and assassination, 
as did Father Varade and the same Father Commolet.* 
But we need not multiply quotations to prove that 
they had a great share in exciting these troubles. 
They themselves confess it with pride. In their Lit- 
terce Annuoe of 1589, they represent the murder of 
the king as a miracle which happened the very day 
they were expelled from Bordeaux. When Clement's 
mother came to Paris, the Jesuits called upon the 
people to worship her; the portrait of the assassin, 
now called a martyr, was exposed on the altars to 
public veneration, and they even proposed to erect a 
statue to him in the cathedral of Notre Dame. 

We will, however, admit that all the Jesuits were 
not fanatic Leaguers; not because they disapproved 
of the League, but simply from good policy, or from 
interested motives. Auger, the king's confessor, and 
who wished to be provincial, sided with his penitent ; 
and the General Acquaviva, the ablest and most 
profound politician of his time, disapproved of the 
Society's engaging so deeply with one party as to cause 
the ruin of the order if the other triumphed. He 
forbade the Jesuits who were in France to take part 
in the contest (which advice, however, they disre- 
garded), and begged permission of the Pope to com- 
mand his subordinate Father Matthieu to leave France, 
and betake himself to a distant country — which clearly 
proves, that the Jesuits in France acted under the 
Pope's own authority. " But Sixtus V.," says Cre- 
tineau, " was not so gentle as Gregory XIII. ; when he 
met an enemy, he fought with him ; accordingly he 
answered the General that the Leaguers acted very 
rightly, and only did their duty."| Acquaviva, how- 
ever, was as jealous of his authority as the imperious 

* Catechisme des Jesuites, lib. iii. ch. 2. + Cret. vol. ii. p. 396* 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 



187 



and terrible Sixtus. When Father Matthieu arrived 
at Loretto on his return to France, the General ordered 
him not to leave the town without his consent; and 
the poor messenger died a few months after, from 
sheer inactivity. Auger, for reasons unknown to us, 
was recalled. Another provincial, Father Pigenat, was 
sent to France — a man who, in the language of De 
Thou, " was a furious Leaguer, and as fanatic as a 
Corybante," and who, according to Arnauld, " was the 
most cruel tiger that prowled through Paris." In 
fact, after his arrival, the Jesuits became still more 
audacious, and engaged in more criminal proceed- 
ings. 

After Henry IV. had abjured the Protestant faith, 
and when he was at Melun, a man was arrested on 
suspicion of having come thither to make an attempt 
upon his life. Barriere — such was the assassin's 
name — to escape the torture, acknowledged his guilt. 
He confessed that having consulted with Aubrey, 
a curate of Paris, regarding his project, he was 
highly commended, and sent to Varade, the rector 
of the Jesuits, who confirmed him in his praise- 
worthy resolution, and gave him his benediction ; 
that next morning he confessed to another Jesuit, 
and received the communion. Barriere repeated on 
the scaffold the declaration he had already made; 
and Pasquier, who was at Melun at the time, declares 
that he had examined the culprit, had read the infor- 
mations and depositions, and even handled the knife 
with which the crime was to have been perpetrated.* 
Mezarai confirms the testimony of Pasquier in the 
most unequivocal manner. " When the king," says 
he, " had reduced Paris to submission, he gave a safe- 
conduct to the Cardinal of Plaisance, who had acted 
with so much energy against him, and granted him 
permission to take with him Aubrey, curate of St 
Andre des Arcs, and the Jesuit Varade, although 

* Catechisme des JesvAtes, lib. iii. ch. 6. 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



culpable of participating in the horrible assassination 
of Barriere."* 

Barriere was executed, but his fate did not deter 
other fanatics from making similar attempts, nor the 
Jesuits from giving them encouragement. A few 
months after Henry had made his entrance into Paris, 
a youth of nineteen, named John Chastel, raised an 
impious hand against the king. The blow was aimed 
at his throat, but happening to bend his head at the 
instant to salute one of his courtiers, it only wounded 
his lips. Chastel was a student of philosophy in the 
Jesuits' College under Father Gueret. He confessed 
that " in the Jesuits' house, he had been often in the 
chamber of meditation, into which the Jesuits intro- 
duced the greatest sinners, where they were shewn the 
pictures of deyils and other frightful figures to induce 
them to lead a better life, and, by working upon their 
spirits, to induce them by these admonitions to perform 
some extraordinary deed." He further confessed that 
he had heard the Jesuits say "that it was lawful to 
kill the king, since he was out of the Church ; and that 
no one ought to obey him, or acknowledge him as 
king, till he should be approved of by the Pope."f The 
murderer, on his examination, boldly maintained this 
last proposition; and "this avowal," says Mezarai, 
"joined to the injurious libels against Henry III. and 
the reigning king ; joined to the ardour which the 
Jesuits had shewn for the interests of Spain, and to 
the doctrines their preachers had propounded against 
the security of the king, and against the ancient law 
of the kingdom: joined also to the opinion held of them, 

* Mezarai, Abrege Chronologique pour Vannee 1594. Henry was 
naturally generous, as all gallant men are. The only revenge he took 
upon the corpulent Duke of Mayenne, the chief of the League, and his 
rival for the throne after the death of Cardinal de Bourbon, was to take 
him by the arm, and whilst engaged in friendly conversation, walking at 
a very smart pace two or three times round the garden. Henry smiled 
when he had walked Mayenne fairly out of breath, and all the Duke's 
injuries were forgotten. 

f See De Thou, L'Etoile, and all the historians of the time. 



i 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 189 



that by means of their colleges and auricular confes- 
sion, they directed the minds of the youth and timid 
consciences to whatever they pleased, gave an oppor- 
tunity to the parliament to involve the Society in his 
punishment.* In fact, the parliament, by the same 
arret (29th Dec. 1594), by which Chastel was con- 
demned to the punishment of the parricide, enacted 
that "the priests and scholars of Clermont College, 
and all others of the so-called Society of Jesus, as 
corrupters of youth, disturbers of the public peace, 
enemies to the king and the state, shall, three days 
after the present intimation, be obliged to leave Paris 
and other towns and places where they have colleges, 
and, within a fortnight after, the kingdom ; under the 
penalty, if found in France after that time, of being- 
punished for high treason. Their property, movable 
and immovable, shall be employed for charitable pur- 
poses, and all the king's subjects, under the same 
penalty, are forbidden to send pupils to the colleges of 
the Society which are beyond the territories of the 
kingdom." f 

All the Jesuits, except Fathers Gueret and Guinard, 
who were arrested, were expelled from France. Gueret, 
against whom no substantial proofs of being an accom- 
plice with Chastel, could be produced, was soon after 
liberated from prison and banished. This is a striking 
proof of the justice and rectitude of the parliament. 
Guinard, in whose possession were found most abomi- 
nable writings, subversive of every principle of justice 
and morality,:}: was condemned and executed ; in con- 

* Mezarai, Ab. Chr. at the end of 1594. 

+ See Acts of the Parliament, or D'Argmtre Collect. Jud. torn. ii. p. 
524. 

X In one of these writings, speaking of Henry IY., the Jesuit says : — 
" Shall we call him a Nero, a Sardanapalus of France, a fox of BearnT' 
and farther on, he declares, that "the crown of France could and ought to 
be transferred to another family ; that Henry, although converted to the 
Catholic faith, would be treated too leniently, if a monk's crown (tonsure) 
were given him in some convent to do penance ; that if he cannot be de- 
posed without war, then (said he) let us make war, and if we cannot 
make war, let him be killed." — Cret. vol. ii. p. 435. 



190 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



formity with a proclamation issued some months be- 
fore by the king, in which it was ordered that all books 
and writings referring to the past troubles should be 
burned, under pain of death. Cretineau confesses the 
fact, but exculpates the man, by saying that these 
writings were composed in the time of the League in 
the year 1589. But this assertion is contradicted by 
the quotation we have given in the note, which shews 
that some of them at least were composed after 
Henry's abjuration, which occurred four years later, 
in 1593. And again, if they had been written at the 
time specified, why did he not burn them, in obedience 
to the king's commandment ? 

Great horror was now felt throughout France at 
these repeated acts of regicide, with an abhorrence of 
the Jesuits, as the well-known instigators of such ne- 
farious deeds. The parliament, the interpreter here 
of the public opinion (Henry having gained over to 
him many of his former opponents by his clemency 
and generosity), by another arret, January 10, 1595, 
ordered that Chastel's house should be destroyed, and 
a pyramid be erected in its stead, to perpetuate the 
memory of his infamy and that of his associates. In 
consequence, four inscriptions were engraved on the 
four faces of this pyramid, in all of which, the name 
of Chastel was coupled with that of the Jesuits. In 
the first inscription, the assassin was described as im- 
pelled to the commission of the crime "by the pestilen- 
tial heresy of that new sect (the Jesuits), which, con- 
cealing under the garb of piety the most atrocious 
crimes, had of late taught that it was lawful to kill 
the king." In the second was the arret of parliament, 
condemning Chastel and the Jesuits, part of which we 
have already given. In the third, the senate and the 
people of Paris congratulate the king on his having ex- 
terminated " that pestilential sect" (the Jesuits). And 
the fourth inscription was, " A house once stood here, 
which was destroyed for the guilt of one of its inhabit- 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 191 



ants, who had been instructed in a school of impiety by 
perverse masters." * In 1605, the Jesuits were again 
powerful enough in France, to get the pyramid de- 
molished ; and in 1606 a fountain was erected in its 
place. 

And this seems to us to be the proper place to lay 
before our readers the political creed of the Jesuits. 
Observe, the following extracts are taken from none but 
their most approved authors, and such as are held in 
high estimation among their brethren. 

Emmanuel Sa. Aphorismi Confessariorum. (Venet. 
1595. Colonic, 1616. Ed. Coll. Sion).— " The re- 
bellion of an ecclesiastic against the king is not a 
crime of high treason, because he is not subject to the 
king." 

" He who tyrannically governs an empire, which he 
has justly obtained, cannot be deprived of it without 
a public trial; but when sentence has been passed, 
every man may become an executor of it; and he 
may he deposed by the people, even although perpetual 
obedience were sworn to him, if, after admonition 
given, he will not be corrected." 

John Bridgewater. Concertatio Ecclesice Oatholicce 
in Anglia adversus Calvino-Papistas. (Augusts Tre- 
virorum, 1594.) — " If the kings be the first to break 
their solemn league and oath, and violate the faith 
which they have pledged to God, the people are not 
only permitted, but they are required, and their duty 
demands, that, at the mandate of the Vicar of Christ, 
who is the sovereign pastor of all the nations of the 
earth, the fidelity which they previously owed or pro- 
mised to such princes should not be kept." 

Robert Bellarmine. Disputationes de Controver- 
siis Christians Fidei adversus hujus temporis Hcere- 
ticos, torn. I. (Ingolstadii, 1596. Parisiis, 1608. Ed. 

* See the whole of the inscription in the authors of the epoch, in the 
Recueil des Pieces touchant VHistoire de la Compagnie de Jesu. Liege, 
1716. A very instructive work. 



192 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



Mus. Brit.) — " The spiritual power, as a spiritual 
prince, may change kingdoms, and transfer them from 
one sovereign to another, if it should be necessary for 
the salvation of souls." 

" Christians may not tolerate an infidel or heretic 
king, if he endeavours to draw his subjects to his 
heresy or infidelity. But it is the province of the 
sovereign Pontiff, to whom the care of religion has 
been intrusted, to decide whether the king draws them 
to heresy or not. It is therefore for the Pontiff to 
determine whether the king is to be deposed or not." 

John Mariana. De Rege et Regis Institutions libri 

tres. (Moguntiae, 1605 1640. Ed. Mus. 

Brit.) — "It is necessary to consider attentively what 
course should be pursued in deposing a prince, lest sin 
be added to sin, and one crime be punished by the com- 
mission of another. This is the shortest and the safest 
way ; — to deliberate, in a public meeting, if it can be 
held, upon what should be determined by the common 
consent, and to consider as firmly fixed and established 
whatever may be resolved by the general opinion. In 
which case, the following course must be pursued. 
First of all, the prince must be admonished and brought 
back to his senses. If he does not amend, begin by 
refusing to obey him ; . . . , and, if necessary, destroy 
with the sword that prince who has been declared a 
public enemy. But you will ask what is to be done if 
a public meeting cannot be held, which may very fre- 
quently happen. In my opinion, a similar judgment 
must be formed ; for when the state is oppressed by 
the tyranny of any of the princes, and the people are 
deprived of the power of assembling, the will to 
abolish the tyranny is not wanting, or to avenge the 
manifest and intolerable crimes of the prince, and to 
restrain his mischievous efforts: I shall never consider 
that man to have done ivrong, ivho, favouring the 
public ivishes, ivould attempt to kill him!" 

Oabriel Vasquez. Comment, et Dispute in primam 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 193 



Partem, et primam secundce Summce, S. Th. Aqnina- 
tis, torn. II. (Ingolstadii, 1615. Antverpiae, 1621. 
Ed. Coll. Sion.) : — " If all the members of the royal 
family are heretics, a new election to the throne devolves 
on the state. For all his (the king's) successors could be 
justly deprived of the kingdom by the Pope; because 
the preservation of the faith, which is of greater im- 
portance, requires that it should be so. But if the 
kingdom were thus polluted, the Pope, as supreme 
judge in the matters of the faith, might appoint a 
Catholic king for the good of the whole realm, and 
might place him over it by force of arms if it were 
necessary. For, the good of the faith and of religion, 
requires that the supreme head of the Church should 
provide a king for the state." 

Busembaum and Lacroix. Theologia Moralis, nunc 
pluribus partibus aucta a R. P. Claudo Lacroix, 
Societatis Jesu. (Coloniso, 1757. Colonise Agrippinse, 
1733. Ed. Mus. Brit.) ; — " A man who has been ex- 
communicated by the Pope may be killed anywhere, 
as Fillincius, Escobar, and Deaux teach ; because the 
Pope has at least an indirect jurisdiction over the 
whole world, even in temporal things, as far as may be 
necessary for the administration of spiritual affairs, as 
all the Catholics maintain, and as Suarez proves against 
the King of England.'' 

Such were the principles and such the acts of the 
so-called soldiers of Christ, and such the just punish- 
ment inflicted on their crimes. We hardly find in 
history a sect, bearing the Christian name, convicted of 
so many and such atrocious crimes — so publicly stig- 
matised and held up to the just hatred of posterity. 
For if, in moments of feverish exaltation, political or 
religious fanatics of every denomination have perpe- 
trated iniquitous and barbarous crimes, no other party 
has subsequently, in calmer times, accepted the respon- 
sibility of these crimes, and praised them as virtuous or 
meritorious actions. But there is no Jesuit, that I 



194 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 

know of, who has ever impugned or disclaimed the 
doctrines I have just pointed out. My English 
readers ought seriously to meditate upon this fact, and 
upon those doctrines, to which the Jesuits still firmly 
adhere. Queen Victoria is in their eyes as much a 
heretic as Henry of Navarre, and I have no doubt 
that they wish her to meet with the same fate. I am 
an advocate for toleration, and abhor the very idea of 
persecution ; but, most assuredly, without persecuting 
those priests and Jesuits, the most inveterate enemies 
of the Protestant religion, I would not countenance 
them, or encourage and support them by grants of 
public money. Theirs is not a religion of tolerance. 
They do not look upon other Christians as brethren, 
holding different forms of belief, or as, at worst, 
persons who have been misled by ignorance. No ! 
in their view, every one who is not a Roman Catholic 
is an accursed heretic, condemned already, and, if he 
die in this condition, doomed to everlasting damna- 
tion. They are not content to be received to the 
rights of citizenship on terms of equality — they aspire 
to domination. What rights and privileges can they 
reasonably claim from persons towards whom they 
cherish such sentiments? Surely those Papists who 
would maintain their religion by persecution and 
tyranny, ought to be thankful, if they are suffered to 
live at peace and unmolested, in a Protestant country. 

GERMANY. 

While the Jesuits in France and in England, where 
the monarch was adverse to them, not only pro- 
pounded the doctrine of the sovereignty of the 
people, but taught that every individual had a right 
to murder the king if he were disliked by the nation 
or accursed by the Pope — in Poland, Sweden, and 
Germany, where the population was adverse and the 
sovereign friendly to them, they inculcated the con- 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 



195 



trary doctrine, and did not scruple to enforce it by 
the most cruel and violent proceedings. In France 
and in England, Henry and Elizabeth had forfeited 
their thrones by holding the doctrines of the Refor- 
mation. In Sweden, the Jesuits compelled the Roman 
Catholic Sigismond to swear to maintain the Confes- 
sion of Augsburg, that he might not be driven from 
his kingdom.* But in those countries, the Jesuits, 
being in close alliance with the civil power, were the 
cause of more mischief, and greatly injured the cause 
of truth and religion. The introduction of the J esuits 
into the north of Europe was the signal for a powerful 
reaction against Protestantism; and they not only 
checked its progress, but, what is more strange, they 
succeeded in reviving an obsolete doctrine — the tem- 
poral supremacy of the Roman Church, which, after 
having for centuries governed almost the whole of 
Europe, had fallen into decay, and ought not, accord- 
ing to the ordinary course of human institutions, to 
exercise any further influence, since it had not under- 
gone any material change or acquired a new prestige. 
Yet such was the case. Many were the requisites of 
success possessed by the Jesuits. Admirable unity of 
purpose — versatility of character — unscrupulous plia- 
bility of conscience — the confessional — the pulpit — 
the conviction that upon their first success depended 
the duration of their order, and, it must be added, 
their unexceptionable outward conduct, all rendered 

* Sigismond, on the death of his father John, having proceeded from 
Poland to Upsala for the ceremony of his coronation, the estates peremp- 
torily refused to render him homage, till he had solemnly sworn that the 
Augsburg Confession should be inculcated everywhere, alone and purely, 
whether in churches or schools. In this strait, the prince applied to 
Malaspina, the Pope's nuncio, to know whether in conscience he could 
give such promise. The nuncio denied that he could. The king 
thereupon addressed himself to the Jesuits in his train, and what the 
nuncio had not dared, they took upon themselves to do. They declared 
that, in consideration of the necessity, and of the manifest danger in 
which the sovereign found himself, he might grant the heretics their 
demands without offence to God. — Ranke, Hist, of the Popes, vol. ii. pp. 



196 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



them in the highest degeee fit for their task. But, 
above all, it was by the education of the youth, 
that they wrought such changes in Germany. It 
was, in fact, for this purpose that they were first 
introduced into the country. In one of the auto- 
graph letters that Ferdinand I. wrote to Loyola, he 
declares it to be his opinion, that the only means by 
which the declining tenets of Catholicism could be 
restored in Germany was, to supply the youth with 
learned and pious Catholic teachers. * The Jesuits 
entered into the king's view with amazing activity 
and energy. They established themselves in Vienna 
in 1551, and soon after had the management of the 
university. Their second important establishment 
was at Cologne ; the third, at Ingolstadt ; and from 
these three principal points, they spread all over 
Germany. We think we cannot do better than tran- 
scribe a passage from Ranke on the project : — 

" The efforts of the Jesuits were above all directed 
towards the universities. Their ambition was to rival 
the fame of those of the Protestants. The education 
of that day was a learned one merely, and was based 
exclusively on the study of the ancient languages. 
This the Jesuits prosecuted with earnest zeal, and in 
certain of their schools, they had very soon professors 
who might claim a place with the restorers of classical 
learning. Nor did they neglect the cultivation of the 
exact sciences. At Cologne, Franz Koster lectured 
on astronomy in a manner at once agreeable and 
instructive. But their principal object was still 
theological discipline, as will be readily compre- 
hended. The Jesuits lectured with the utmost dili- 
gence even during the holidays, reviving the practice 
of disputations, without which they declared all 
instruction to be dead. These disputations, which 
they held in public, were conducted with dignity and 
decorum, were rich in matter, and altogether the 
* See Ranke's History of the Popes, vol. i. p. 411. 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 197 

most brilliant that had ever been witnessed. In 
Ingolstadt, they soon persuaded themselves that their 
progress in theology was such as would enable the 
university to compete successfully with any other in 
Germany. Ingolstadt now acquired an influence 
among Catholics similar to that possessed among 
Protestants by Wittemberg and Geneva. They next 
established schools for the poor — arranged modes of 
instruction adapted to children — and enforced the 
practice of catechising. Canisius prepared his cate- 
chism, which satisfied the wants of the learners by its 
well-connected questions and apposite replies. 

" This instruction was imparted entirely in the 
spirit of that fanciful devotion, which had character- 
ised the Jesuits from their earliest establishment. 
The first rector in Vienna was a Spaniard named 
Juan Victoria, a man who had signalised his entrance 
into the Society by walking along the Corso of Rome, 
during the festivities of the carnival, clothed in sack- 
cloth, and scourging himself as he walked, till the 
blood streamed from him on all sides. The childrea 
educated in the Jesuit schools of Vienna were soon 
distinguished by their steadfast refusal of such food 
as was forbidden on fast-days, while their parents ate 
without scruple. In Cologne it was again become an 
honour to wear the rosary. Relics were once more 
held up to public reverence in Treves, where for 
many years no one had ventured to exhibit them. 
In the year 1560, the youth of Ingolstadt belonging 
to the Jesuit school walked two and two on a pilgrim- 
age to Gichstadt, in order to be strengthed for their 
confirmation ' by the dew that dropped from the 
tomb of St Walpurgis. 5 The modes of thought and 
feeling thus implanted in the schools, were propagated 
by means of preaching and confession through the 
whole population." * 

We add to all this, that their instructions were 

* Ranke's Hist, of the Popes, vol. i. pp. 415-417. 
O 



19S HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 

gratuitous, and that the pupils made such rapid pro- 
gress, that they were found to have learned more in 
six months in a Jesuit school, than in two years any- 
where else. Many were the Protestants who sent 
their children to the Jesuit colleges: and these 
children were kindly received by the masters, treated 
with great indulgence, and premiums were freely 
bestowed upon them even in preference to the Roman 
Catholic children. The Jesuits thus acquired an im- 
mense influence, especially over the female part of the 
population, who were proud of their children's learning ; 
while these imperceptibly acquired a tinge of their 
masters' doctrines and modes of thinking, although in 
countries where the majority were Protestants, they 
were expressly forbidden openly to propound them. 
Yet, notwithstanding all these advantages, the Jesuits 
could not have hoped for such prodigious success had 
it not been for the support they received from divers 
sovereigns of the country. Perhaps we should be more 
correct in saying, that these sovereigns called in the 
Jesuits to re-establish the ancient religion. 

At the commencement of the Reformation, even 
those German princes who had not unreservedly 
embraced the new doctrines were exceedingly glad 
to shake off the yoke of the Romish See ; and, 
without separating themselves from its communion, 
they made many concessions to their subjects, which 
amounted in many places ,to toleration. Subse- 
quently, however, the Popes made them understand 
that by these concessions their sovereign authority 
was greatly diminished, and that temporal princes 
and the head of the Church were bound by a com- 
mon interest to support each other. The princes 
were easily persuaded to a policy which flattered their 
inclination to despotism, and from that moment they 
not only resisted every new demand for reform, but, to 
the utmost of their power, withdrew the concessions 
they had formerly made. The first who entered upon 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 199 



this reactionary path was Albert V. of Bavaria. Being 
in continual want of money to pay his enormous debts, 
the estates would grant him no supplies without ob- 
taining in exchange some concessions, mostly of a reli- 
gious kind. In this state of things, Pius IV., through 
the medium of the Jesuits, and especially of Canisius, 
persuaded him that any new concessions would dimi- 
nish the obedience of his subjects ; and, in order to 
render him less dependent on the estates, the Pope 
abandoned to him the tenth of the property of his 
clergy.* The duke perceiving what advantage he 
might derive from a closer alliance with the Court of 
Rome, decided at once to resist any further demand, 
and firmly declared his intentions at the diet of 1563. 
He found the prelates well disposed to second him ; 
" and, whether it was that the doctrines of a reviving 
Catholicism, and the activity of the Jesuits, who in- 
sinuated themselves everywhere, had gained influence 
in the cities, or that other considerations prevailed, 
the cities did not insist as formerly upon religious 
concessions."! The nobles only kept up an opposition ; 
but the duke, catching the opportunity of a sort of 
conspiracy which he had discovered, deprived them of 
their right to seats in the diet, and so became the 
almost absolute and uncontrolled master of his people's 
franchises. Then commenced the reaction. Encou- 
raged by the Jesuits, who had now acquired an un- 
limited influence over him, Albert resolved not to leave 
a vestige of those new doctrines which for the last 
forty years had been spreading so fast in his kingdom. 
All the professors, all his household, all the civil 
officers — in a word, all the public functionaries — were 
compelled to subscribe the Professio Fidei of the 
Council of Trent, and on their refusal, were immediately 
dismissed. To obtain a recantation from the common 
people, he sent through all his provinces swarms of 
Jesuits, accompanied by bands of troopers, whose 
* Ranke's History of the Popcs z vol. i. p. 411. f Ibid. p. 426. 



200 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



bayonets came to the aid of the preachers, when their 
eloquence was unsuccessful in converting the heretics. 
The mildest treatment the obstinate Protestants could 
expect, was to be expelled from the duke's estates 
without delay. Prohibited books were sought for in 
the libraries, and burned in large numbers ; those of a 
rigidly Catholic character, on the contrary, were highly 
favoured. Relics were again held in great veneration ; 
and, in short, throughout the whole country were re- 
vived all the ancient practices, all the absurd super- 
stitions, of the Popish religion. " Above all," says 
Ranke, " the Jesuit institutions were promoted ; for 
by their agency it was, that the youth of Bavaria were 
to be educated in a spirit of strict orthodoxy." * 

Duke Albert was now spoken of as the most bigoted 
Roman Catholic in Germany, and became the protector 
of all those petty sovereigns who wished to tread in 
his footsteps. 

In Austria, although the reaction had long be- 
gun, coercive measures against the Protestants were 
not resorted to till somewhat later. As we have al- 
ready said, Ferdinand invited the Jesuits to Vienna, 
and delivered up to them the university as early as 
the year 1551. Soon after, he established another 
Jesuit college at Prague, to which he sent his own 
pages, and to which resorted all the nobility belonging 
to the Roman communion. Colleges, and schools of 
less consequence, were established throughout all the 
Austrian dominions, and great efforts were made to 
win back the Protestants to the Romish faith. Yet, 
under the prudent and conciliating Ferdinand I., and 
during the reign of the wise Maximilian, the Jesuits 
could not obtain any severe persecuting measure 
against the followers of the Reformed religion, but 
were more successful with Rodolph II. Father 
Maggio, the Provincial of the Jesuits, was held by 
the emperor in great estimation, and consulted in 

* Ranke, vol. i. p. 422. 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 201 



every matter of importance. He was continually press- 
ing the monarch to come to the resolution of com- 
pletely extirpating heresy from his dominions. The 
Pope's legate and the Spanish ambassador backed him 
in his intolerant demand. This bigoted prince at last, 
under the pretence of a popular tumult, which took 
place on the occasion of the procession of the Corpus 
Domini in 1578, banished from his estates Opitz, a 
Protestant preacher, and all his assistants; and this mea- 
sure was the signal for a general persecution of the Lu- 
therans. The greatest atrocity and the utmost rigour 
were displayed in destroying every trace of Protes- 
tantism. 

In the first place, it was determined to extirpate 
Protestantism from the imperial cities. The towns east 
of the Ens, which had separated from the estates of 
the knights and nobles twenty years before, could offer 
no resistance ; the Reformed clergy were removed, and 
their places filled by Catholic priests ; private persons 
were subjected to a close examination. A formula, ac- 
cording to which the suspected were interrogated, has 
come into our possession. ' Dost thou believe,' in- 
quires one of its articles, ' that everything is true which 
the Church of Rome has laid down as the rule of life 
and doctrine?' 'Dost thou believe,' adds another, 
6 that the Pope is the head of the one Apostolic Church ? ' 
No doubt was to be endured. The Protestants were 
to be expelled from all offices of state ; none were ad- 
mitted to the class of burghers who did not declare 
themselves Catholics. In the universities, that of 
Vienna not excepted, all who applied for a doctor's 
degree were first required to subscribe the Professio 
Fidei. A new regulation for schools was promulgated, 
which prescribed Catholic formularies, fasts, worship, 
according to the Catholic ritual, and the exclusive use 
of the Catechism of Cankius. In Vienna, all Protestant 
books were taken away from the booksellers' shops, 
and were carried in heaps to the Episcopal court. 



202 



HISTORY OF THU JESUITS. 



Search was made at the customhouses along the river; 
all packages were examined, and books or pictures not 
considered purely Catholic were confiscated.* 

All throughout Germany the same proceedings were 
resorted to, and everywhere we find the Jesuits 
foremost in the reaction. There was no bishop, no 
prince, who went to visit a province upon religious 
concerns, who did not bring with him a troop of Jesuits, 
who, on his departure, were often left there with al- 
most unlimited powers. 

POLAND. 

If from Germany we pass to Poland, there also we 
meet the ominous influence of the disciples of Loyola. 
" The Protestant cause," says Count Krasinski, in the 
fourth of his admirable Lectures on Slavonia, " was en- 
dangered by the lamentable partiality which Stephen 
Batory had shewn to the Jesuits; and the Komanist 
reaction, beginning under his reign, had been chiefly 
promoted by the schools, which that order was every- 
where establishing." Stephen, however, either too pru- 
dent to attack openly the religion then professed, in Li- 
thuania at least, by a great majority of his subjects, or 
anxious to maintain, to a certain extent, religious li- 
berty, had recourse to no extraordinary measures for 
the furtherance of this reaction, and contented himself 
with ordering that in future none but strict Roman 
Catholics should be appointed to bishoprics. But 
under the bigoted Sigismond — under that king, who, 
as the same learned Count says, gloried in the appel- 
lation of the king of the Jesuits, which was given him 
by their antagonists, and who indeed became a mere 
tool in the hands of the disciples of Loyola" — the reac- 
tion made fearful and continued progress. Although 
Sigismond could attempt nothing by main force against 
the liberties of his Protestant subjects, he had it in his 
* Ranke, vol. i. p. 487. 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 203 

power to give, and he at last effectually gave, a mortal 
blow to the Reformed religion. The chief prerogative 
of the Polish kings — we should perhaps say, the only 
real power possessed by these nominal sovereigns — 
was the right of conferring all dignities and official 
appointments. Twenty thousand offices were at their 
disposal ; and Sigismond declared that none but strict 
Roman Catholics should be named to them. The favour 
of the Jesuits was an essential condition of obtaining a 
situation under the Government; and "the Starost 
Ludwig von Montager became Waivode of Pomerel- 
lia, because he presented his house in Thorn to the 
Society of Jesus."* Many of the nobles who had pro- 
fessed the doctrines of the Reformation, were induced 
to recant, depending exclusively as they did on the king's 
favour for the maintenance of their rank, and having 
no hope for preferment while out of the pale of the 
Romish Church. The influence of these examples, 
seconded by the rigorous measures subsequently taken 
against the Lutherans, and, above all, by the diabolical 
cunning and artifice of the Jesuits, in a short time 
brought back the great majority of the Polish nation 
under the yoke of the Church of Rome. 

SWEDEN. 

In Sweden, the efforts of the Jesuits against Protes- 
tantism, although no less active and vigorous, were 
less successful. John III., son of the heroic Gustavus 
Vasa, on ascending the throne, published a ritual, in 
which, to the great amazement and dismay of the Pro- 
testants, were to be found not only ceremonies, but 
even doctrines of the Church of Rome.f The Pope, 
apprised of this prince's good disposition towards his 

* Ranke, Hist, of the Popes, vol. ii. p. 141. 

f J ohn, betore his ascension to the throne, had been confined in strict 
captivity by his brother Eric. ^ His wife, a Polish princess, the last de- 
scendant of the Jagellonica family, and an adherent oi the Church of Rome, 



204 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



Church; despatched to Stockholm in all haste and 
secrecy, as his legate, the famous Possevin, one of the 
cleverest and least scrupulous among the Jesuits. To 
obviate the difficulty of obtaining admission into tho 
country and court of Sweden as Pope's legate, Posse- 
vin, in passing through Prague, induced the widow of 
the emperor Maximilian to send him to Stockholm as 
her extraordinary ambassador. He assumed, in conse- 
quence, another name, a splendid costume, and girded 
himself with a sword, but, " to do penance in advance 
for these transient honours, he went the greatest part 
of the way on foot."* Acting publicly as the envoy of 
the empress, he found means secretly to inform the 
king of his real name and mission, and had several 
conferences with him. The result was, that John was 
persuaded to make the Professio Fidei, according to 
the formula of the Council of Trent, promising at the 
same time to take measures, and to use all his endea- 
vours, to induce the nation to follow in the same path, 
provided the Pope would second him by making cer- 
tain concessions, the most essential of which were, that 
the sacramental cup should be administered to the 
laity, and mass performed in the language of the coun- 
try. Possevin said that the Pope should be apprised 
of his majesty's will, and asked him whether he would 
submit to his decision in this matter. John having 
answered in the affirmative, was absolved of his sins, 
and received the sacrament according to the Roman 
Catholic ritual.f 

The Jesuit departed in high glee at his success, far 
surpassing his most sanguine hopes. He hastened to 

shared his imprisonment ; the sad and gloomy hours of which were ren- 
dered less painful by the frequent visits of a Roman Catholic priest, who 
shewed them the greatest sympathy. It seems that this made some im- 
pression upon John, and rendered him favourable towards the Papists. 
* Cret. vol. ii. p. 195. 

*f* Ranke informs us that John, troubled by remorse for his brother's 
assassination, was very anxious to receive absolution ; — as if the word of a 
man could quiet the gnawings of conscience, that unsparing avenger of 
erime 1 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 205 



Rome, and assuming a privilege in use among am- 
bassadors, he boasted of having achieved more than he 
had really done, assuring Gregory XIII. that Sweden 
and its king were at his Holiness's mercy. He then 
laid before the Pope the conditions on which John had 
insisted, but Gregory, either too intolerant to make 
any concession, or considering it unnecessary to grant 
honourable terms to an enemy who threw himself at 
his feet, refused to listen to such proposals, and sent 
back the Jesuit to Stockholm, with letters to the king, 
in which he required the monarch to declare himself a 
Catholic without restriction. 

This imperious conduct saved Sweden from falling 
back under the Popish rule. John, indignant at being 
held in so light account — indignant at the assurance 
of Possevin, who unceremoniously entered Stockholm 
and the court in the garb of his order as the Pope's 
legate, and accompanied by other Jesuits, as if 
Sweden had already become a Roman Catholic coun- 
try — moved by the remonstrances of the Protestant 
princes and divines, who, in the interval of Possevin's 
departure and return, had entreated him to remain in 
their communion — dismissed the Pope's ambassador, 
and returned to the Reformed worship. 

The attempts of the Jesuits to convert Sweden to 
the Roman faith were revived with new vigour under 
John's successor, Sigismond, the Polish king. For- 
tunately, Charles of Sandermania, the king's uncle, 
headed the nation in its resistance to Sigismond's 
Popish propensities ; and although the Jesuits had 
the sad glory of plunging Poland and Sweden into a 
bloody war, the last-mentioned country remained Pro- 
testant. 

SWITZERLAND AND PIEDMONT. 

The Jesuits experienced some difficulty in entering 
Switzerland, and in some parts of it they could not 



206 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



get footing ; but towards the year 1574, they esta- 
blished themselves in Friburg and Lucerne. They 
succeeded in keeping back these two towns from the 
Alliance of Berne, and scattered the flames of that 
religious discord between these cantons which was not 
extinguished even by the blood that was shed at the 
instigation of the Jesuits in 1845-47. The famous 
Canisius was the principal promoter and founder of 
the College of Friburg, the resort, till lately, of a great 
number of young men of the highest families, sent 
thither for education from divers parts of Europe. 

The cruelties exercised by Possevin against the in- 
habitants of the Alps were most barbarous and revolt- 
ing. Many Christians, driven out of other countries 
by Popish persecution, had sought a refuge in these 
almost inaccessible mountains, where the Waldenses 
still preserved the religion of Christ in its primitive 
purity. They had hoped, in the simplicity of their 
hearts, that there, far from the scene of conflict, they 
would be permitted to worship God according to their 
consciences. They were not dangerous persons — they 
were no chiefs of sects eager to make proselytes — they 
were single-hearted people, seeking to please God by 
living a pure and Christian life. It might have been 
expected that their poverty, their innocence, their 
peaceful conduct, would have sheltered them from any 
persecution ; and, in fact, for a time they lived un- 
molested. Unhappily Tor them, the Jesuits were 
watching them, and, urged on by that persecuting 
spirit which led them to seek for victims everywhere, 
were resolved to trouble them in their retreat, and, if 
possible, to destroy them. Lainez, in 1560, despatched 
Possevin to Nice, to Emmanuel Philebert, Duke of 
Savoy, to excite him to persecute those heretic moun- 
taineers. The Jesuit represented to the Duke that a 
Catholic prince ought not, even though his own per- 
sonal interest required it, to tolerate that the heresy 
should establish itself in his dominions, and that the 



PROCEEDINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 207 



mountains of Piedmont and the Alps, in particular, 
served for a retreat to the sectaries of Luther and 
Calvin.* Possevin succeeded in bringing the duke into 
his abominable views. Ferrier, the governor of Pignerol , 
commenced a chase against these inoffensive people, 
who were hunted from one retreat to another, and 
when taken, were mercilessly and inhumanly consigned 
to the flames. Driven to despair they took up arms, re- 
solved hereafter to sell their lives at the dearest price. 
A body of troops was sent against them. The Gene- 
ral, the Sieur de la Trinite, placed them at the disposal 
of Possevin, and the Pope's nuncio conferred upon him 
the powers with which he pretended to be invested.f 
The Jesuit, forgetful of his sacerdotal calling, repress- 
ing every feeling of humanity, put himself at the head 
of a chosen body of troops, and hunted down these 
poor Christians as if they were wild beasts, putting 
every one who fell into his hands to the sword. 
Then, when he was tired of the work of slaughter, to 
procure for himself a sort of triumph, he brought to 
Vercelli, in solemn procession, thirty-four of those un- 
fortunates, who, not having faith or strength enough 
to prefer martyrdom to apostasy, publicly abjured 
their religion in the presence of the duke and the 
Jesuit.^ From that day till very lately, the house of 
Savoy has more or less persecuted the Waldenses. 

Our Protestant readers, we presume, have by this 
time learned what malignant and unrelenting enemies 
of their religion the Jesuits have always been. They 
must have learned that all the north of Europe, and 
France itself, perhaps, would have become Protestant 
countries, had it not been for the demoniacal arts and 
ill-employed activity of the disciples of Loyola. They 

* Cret. vol. i. p. 449. + Ibid. 

X This fact is reported by all the Jesuit historians. We, however, 
have too good an opinion of the Waldenses not to suspect that the 
Jesuits, in order to deceive and impose upon the populace, had mixed 
among some few apostates a number of Roman Catholics who were will- 
ing to appear converted heretics. 



208 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



must, further, be aware that the Jesuits did not obtain 
those results by honest means only, by force of argu- 
ment, or by active and earnest exertions, which would 
have at least entitled them to the approbation and es- 
teem of all Roman Catholics, but they had recourse to 
perjury, to murder, to persecution, to cruelties of every 
kind — to means, in short, involving the perversion of 
every principle of morality, for which they at last 
came to be abhorred by every honest person, even of 
their own persuasion. Lastly, it clearly appears, from 
what we have related, that, while pretending to fight 
for the Roman See, the Jesuits, in reality, fought for 
their own aggrandisement ; that they recognise no re- 
ligion, but their interest ; worship no God, but their 
order. We must, finally, remind our readers that we 
have omitted numberless other charges which are 
generally brought against them, which we consider 
well founded, but which we cannot satisfactorily prove. 
All that we have advanced we have proved, according 
to our promise, by documents of unquestionable authen- 
ticity, and we shall continue to observe this rule to the 
conclusion of our history. 



COMMOTION AMONG THE JESUITS. 



209 



CHAPTER X. 

1581-1608. 
COMMOTION AMONG THE JESUITS. 

In relating the proceedings of the Jesuits in divers 
countries of Europe, we have not mentioned Spain ; 
first, because, though firmly established in that country, 
they, under the absolute Philip II., exercised no influ- 
ence whatever over its general policy ; and, secondly, 
because we had it in reserve to speak of their pro- 
ceedings in that country in the present chapter. 

In Spain the Jesuits had no heretics to contend 
with — no zeal or fanaticism to excite. If now and 
then some Christianised Jew or Moor relapsed into 
his former belief, the Inquisition was too jealous of her 
privilege of roasting those accursed of God, in a 
solemn auto dafe, to permit the Jesuits to meddle in 
the holy ceremony. Having thus no external enemy 
to contend with, they, as usually happens, fell out 
among themselves, and fought with one another. 

The so-called Society of J esus having been mostly 
established by Spaniards, the Spanish Jesuits pre- 
tended that all the honours and dignities of the order 
were exclusively due to them. A first blow was dealt 
to these pretensions when, by the interference of the 
Pope, a General was chosen who was not a Castilian. 
However, since Mercurianus, the person elected, was 
old and weak, they submitted without much reluctance 
to an authority they did not dread. But when the 



210 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



fifth General Congregation chose for General a Nea- 
politan nobleman, young, active, and enterprising, 
they broke out into open revolt. This General, elected 
in 1581, was Claude Acquaviva, son of the Duke of 
Atri, only thirty-seven years of age at the time of his 
election. Acquaviva was, and has remained, the beau 
ideal of Jesuitism. He had grown up in the Court of 
Rome, where he was chamberlain, and where he ac- 
quired a thorough knowledge of men, and of all 
political intrigues, in which the Roman curia at that 
epoch excelled all the other courts of Europe. He 
was crafty, insinuating, persevering. He never uttered 
a precise command, but never suffered his exhorta- 
tions to be disregarded. Gentle in appearance, and 
renowned for the amenity of his manners, he was en- 
dowed with an inflexible intrepidity of character. He 
spoke rarely, never gave a decided opinion, and pre- 
served in all circumstances a placid and calm demean- 
our. His family had been from of old attached to the 
French party, and he followed the same line of policy. 
As we have seen, he disapproved of the League, and 
gave other tokens of his attachment to the French in- 
terest, without, however, openly committing himself 
with the other party. Such was Acquaviva. 

At the news of Acqua viva's election, the old J esuits 
of Spain, incensed in the highest degree, broke out in 
loud complaints first, refused afterwards obedience to 
his orders, lastly rebelled openly, and asked that the 
members residing in Spain should be governed by a 
commissary-general independent of Rome. Philip, 
to cast a reproach upon Acquaviva, whom he detested 
on account of his partiality to the French king, sided 
with the malcontents. The General faced the storm in 
the best manner he could. First of all, he contrived, 
by promises of advancement and honours, to retain in his 
interest some of the less compromised among the riot- 
ers; secondly, he sent into the Peninsula new provin- 
cials and superiors, the most of whom were Neapolitans, 



COMMOTION AMONG THE JESUITS. 



211 



young (a class of Jesuits who worshipped him), and 
firmly attached to his fortunes, with strict injunctions to 
enforce obedience to his orders. Some of the Jesuits, 
in the hope of making their way to preferment, sub- 
mitted ; the most refused obedience, and had recourse 
to the Inquisition and the king. Philip ordered the 
Bishop of Carthagena to subject the order to a visita- 
tion, and the Inquisition arrested the provincial Mar- 
cenius, and two or three more members of Acquaviva's 
party ; the latter being accused by the other party of 
absolving the members of their order from certain sins 
from which the Inquisition only could absolve; and those 
sins, Sacchini tells us, consisted in the attempt to cor- 
rupt the honesty of their penitents. This was rather 
a serious matter, and menaced the Society in its very 
existence. Nevertheless, Acquaviva was not appalled. 
He did not lose his self-command, nor vent his anger 
in threats. Against such enemies he had but one 
shield — the Pope. Sixtus V. filled the chair of St 
Peter; he bore no goodwill to the order, but he was 
jealous to an extreme degree of his own authority, and 
wished that that of others also should be respected. 
Acquaviva persuaded Sixtus, or, to speak more cor- 
rectly, insinuated to him, that the blow was aimed not 
so much at him, the General, as at the supremacy of 
Rome; at the same time skilfully making him under- 
stand, that the Bishop of Carthagena was of illegiti- 
mate birth, a blemish which he knew the Pope abhorred 
above all things. Sixtus at once recalled the assent 
which he had given to the visitation, and commanded 
the Inquisition to set at liberty the arrested Jesuits, 
and to remit the whole case to Rome. When he was 
informed that the holy tribunal refused to obey his 
orders, Sixtus became furious with anger, and directed 
a letter to be written to Cardinal Quiroga, the Grand 
Inquisitor, to which he added, in his own handwriting, 
" And if you do not obey, I, the Pope, shall imme- 
diately depose you front your office of inquisitor, and 



212 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



tear from your head your cardinal's hat." This de- 
cided language produced the desired effect. Sixtus's 
orders were obeyed, and Acquaviva, under the shadow 
of the Pope's authority, maintained himself unshaken 
in his high office during Sixtus's lifetime. 

But the storm, which had been but momentarily 
quelled, broke out again after the death of Sixtus, 
with increased violence. In 1592, while the General 
was absent from Rome, Philip, who never forgave to 
Acquaviva his partiality for the French interest, sent 
the Pope a petition from all the Spanish Jesuits, 
praying for a general congregation of the order; he 
himself, at the same time, strongly recommending the 
measure. Clement VIII*, the reigning Pope, granted 
their request, and before even the General could be 
aware of his enemies' manoeuvres, the Pope issued orders 
for the meeting of the congregation. Acquaviva, satis- 
fied that the measure was now irrevocable, submitted 
to it with the greatest possible good grace, and having 
used his utmost endeavours that the election should 
not prove too unfavourable to him, the moment the 
congregation opened, he, without waiting to be accused, 
requested that his conduct should be examined and 
judged. A commission was immediately appointed to 
receive any accusation or complaint that might be 
brought against the General. But Acquaviva was far 
too prudent to have violated any essential rule, or to 
have given his enemies the right of consistently im- 
peaching his private conduct ; so that, as no charge 
could be substantiated against him, he was triumph- 
antly acquitted. Philip, however, insisted that some 
restraint should be put upon the General's authority, 
and, although the congregation refused to comply 
with the king's wishes, the Pope, in the plenitude of 
his apostolic power, ordained that the superiors and 
rectors should be changed every third year, and that, 
at the expiration of every sixth year, a general con- 
gregation should be assembled. Acquaviva shewed a 



COMMOTION AMONG THE JESUITS. 



213 



great readiness to acquiesce in the Pope's decrees, but 
he rendered them almost nugatory by other ordi- 
nances ; and as a new generation of Jesuits, all devoted 
to his interests, was now grown up, all questions taken 
up both by the provincial and general congregations, 
were decided in accordance with his wishes. By his 
letter on the happy increase of the Society, Acquaviva 
prescribed new rules to render the superiors more 
respected by their subordinates, and more submissive 
to the General. A second letter, ratio studiorum, 
which contains a complete code of school legislation, 
was of still greater importance, and productive of 
more momentous results. As the education of the 
young has been one of the principal and immediate 
causes of the Jesuits' immense power and influence, 
we feel obliged to devote some few pages to this im- 
portant matter. 

Had the Jesuits devoted themselves to the work of 
education for the sole and noble end of diffusing know- 
ledge and intellectual culture among the people, no 
praise would be adequate to their meritorious exer- 
tions and unremitting activity. Such, however, was 
not exactly the case. The Order — that idol which the 
Jesuit must have constantly before his eyes — was in 
this, as in every other undertaking, the great object 
to which their labours were consecrated; and for its 
honour and advantage they did not hesitate to sac- 
rifice, when necessary, every other consideration. 
Nevertheless, in a literary point of view, we shall not 
refuse to them some eulogy. 

" The instruction of boys and of ignorant people in 
Christianity " was one of the ends which they proposed 
to attain, and for which Loyola asked Paul III. to 
approve his order. The example of John HI. of Por- 
tugal, and of the Duke of Candia, who first erected 
colleges for the fathers, was eagerly imitated by 
many. Their colleges increased rapidly, and were 
goon planted all over the world, so that there were no 

p 



214 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



less than 669 of them at the epoch of the suppression 
of the order. We have already seen (pp. 40, 41) by 
what allurements wealthy persons were induced by the 
J esuits to leave their property to Jesuit establishments. 
These were of two kinds, seminaries and colleges, the 
members of the latter being subdivided into gymnasium 
and faculty-students. In connexion with each college 
there was a boarding-house, whither parents were 
happy to send their children as under a safe shelter 
from the storms of passion, and from the dangerous so- 
ciety of depraved companions. In their seminaries were 
trained up the Scholars — those members of the order 
who were thought to be possessed of such talents as to 
qualify them to fulfil afterwards the office of professor. 
But the most numerous class, and perhaps the most 
useful for their purpose, was the class of day scholars. 
It is well known that all persons, of whatsoever rank, 
are admitted into the Jesuit schools, and receive the 
same instructions. At school hours the prince's son, 
who is brought up in their boarding-houses, descends 
and takes his seat on the same bench with the son of a 
cobbler. And this we consider an admirable and most 
instructive plan. The only obligation imposed on the 
day scholars is, that they must give in their names, 
and promise to observe the rules of the college, 
which are everywhere uniform, and which oblige the 
pupil to hear mass every day, and to go to the con- 
fessional once every month. In former times, the 
Jesuits undertook a still more watchful oversight of 
this class. They visited them at unwonted hours in 
their abodes, they had them followed in their different 
movements, and if they were found guilty of any mis- 
demeanour they were reprimanded, and their faults 
were made an obstacle to their advancement to acade- 
mical honours. It is, however, worthy of remark, that 
Loyola, the clear-sighted Loyola, foreseeing that the 
obligation to follow the rules of the college would 
deter Protestants from sending their children to it, 



COMMOTION AMONG THE JESUITS. 215 



and wishing above all things to get hold of those 
children and to try what the Jesuits could do to con- 
vert them, had taken care to leave an opening for 
their admission. To the third paragraph of the thir- 
teenth chapter of the fourth part of the Constitution, 
in which is enacted that the day scholars shall engage 
to observe the rules of the college, he added the fol- 
lowing note : — " If any of those who present them- 
selves to our schools will neither engage to observe 
the rules nor give in his name, he ought not for that 
reason to be prevented from attending the classes, 
provided he conduct himself with propriety, and do 
not cause either trouble or scandal. Let them be 
made aware of this; adding, however, that they 
shall not receive the peculiar care which is given to 
those whose names are inscribed in the register of the 
university or of the class, and who engage to follow its 
rules."* This is a characteristic specimen of Jesuitical 
policy. By absolutely refusing to admit the children 
of Protestants, they would obtain no result ; but by 
admitting them on such terms, they obtain an oppor- 
tunity of influencing their youthful minds, and bending 
them to their purpose indirectly. On the one hand, 
such pupils cannot but imbibe, in the ordinary course 
of instruction, the principles and spirit of their masters ; 
and on the other, their pride is mortified at never 
being considered or mentioned at those public exhibi- 
tions which form so important a part of the Jesuit 
system of education. This artful policy is too fre- 
quently successful. Oftentimes the parents, jealous of 
their children's renown, and anxious to see them sur- 
rounded by those affectionate and friendly cares which 
the Jesuits unsparingly bestow upon the regular pupils, 
are induced to consent that they shall follow the rules 
of the college, and go to mass and to the confessional, 
and even change their own faith, the better to secure 
for them these desired advantages : and if it should 
* See also Cret. vol. iv. pp. 200, 201 



216 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



chance that the mother alone is left as guardian, it 
commonly happens that both mother and son become 
Roman Catholics. 

In the Jesuit schools the greatest order reigned. 
The Jesuit masters were men of polite and agreeable 
manners, in general of a comely appearance, with a 
cheerful and smiling countenance. They descended 
with a winning affability to the level of their pupils, 
and accommodated their language and manners to the 
capacities and dispositions of the class of persons 
they had to deal with. The parents, who were highly 
pleased with the polished manners and the high at- 
tainments of their children, sounded forth the praises 
of their kind instructors far and wide, and repaid their 
gratuitous instructions sometimes by large donations, 
always by a deference and devotion never withdrawn. 
It is an incontestable fact, that even Protestants and 
philosophers, who had been educated in these semina- 
ries, and who afterwards became the most hostile to 
the Jesuits as a religious community, continued to pre- 
serve a grateful recollection of their Jesuit teachers. 
Voltaire himself dedicated his tragedy Merope to his 
dear master Father Poree ; and the different princes 
who were brought up by the Jesuits never lost, when 
on the throne, that affection and veneration which they 
had conceived for their kind instructors at an age when 
generous minds are most susceptible of noble and ge- 
nerous impressions. 

Nor was this all. Another strong link, that of reli- 
gion, was added to the chain of sympathy by which 
they bound their pupils to the order, and insured for 
themselves in the different nations of Europe an all- 
powerful and irresistible influence. In 1569 the Jesuit 
Leon, a teacher, thought of assembling during the 
interval of studies such of the boys as were willing to 
sing the praises of the Virgin, and perform certain 
external acts of devotion, contributing at the same 
time, monthly, small sums of money, part of which was 
employed in works of charity, the merit of the action 



COMMOTION AMONG THE JESUITS. 



217 



being always attributed, not to the donors, but to the 
Jesuits. These meetings took the form of associations, 
and increased so rapidly, that fifteen years after, in 
1584, Gregory XIII. erected them into primary con- 
gregations, under the title of Congregations of the 
Holy Virgin. " These congregations, of which the 
General of the order was the supreme director, soon 
broke out from the walls of the colleges with those 
young men who left them to embrace a career, and 
who wished to remain in a communion of prayers and 
remembrances with their masters and their fellow- 
scholars. They became a link of connexion and friend- 
ship; they spread in Europe and in India; they united 
in the same association the east and the west, the 
populations of the north and of the south. They had 
statutes, rules, prayers, and duties in common. It 
was a numerous brotherhood, extending from Paris to 
Goa, and descending from Rome to the most insignifi- 
cant hamlet. The congregations of Avignon, of Ant- 
werp, of Prague, of Friburg, were the most celebrated. 
There were congregations composed of ecclesiastics, of 
military men, of magistrates, of nobles, of burgesses, 
of merchants, of artisans, of servants, all occupied in 
good and meritorious works."* With the exception of 
this last clause, this description is perfectly true. A 
Jesuit was at the head of every congregation. At 
appointed times the members met together to repeat 
the office of the Virgin, and to listen to whatever ex- 
hortation or advice the Jesuit might think proper to 
give. His influence was greater or less, according to 
the quality of persons composing the congregation. 
Over the poor and the ignorant he had an almost 
absolute control, and whatever he enjoined, they un- 
scrupulously obeyed. If he exercised no such abso- 
lute control over members of the higher classes, he 
still possessed a great influence over them, and had 
free access to their families, where he more leisurely 

* Cret. vol iv. pp. 221, 222. 



218 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS* 



practised those arts by which the Jesuit very seldom 
fails to attain his ends. One is amazed when he con- 
siders what immense power these congregations must 
have given the General of the society. His orders, 
his curses or commendations of a book, of a man, or of 
a measure, were repeated in the same tone throughout 
all the world by tens of thousands, who considered it a 
sin to disbelieve his word, or to disobey his commands. 
No wonder, then, that the Court of Rome itself was 
obliged to submit to the ascendancy of the Jesuits, and 
that the suppression of the order was with difficulty 
effected by the united efforts of almost all the sove- 
reigns of Europe. 

After the order was suppressed, and during the poli- 
tical turmoil and the unsettled state of Europe, the 
congregations, although kept up secretly by some dis- 
guised Liguorist or Jesuit, were thinly attended, and 
had lost all their importance. But after the restora- 
tion of the Pope and of the Bourbons, missionaries of 
all kinds overran the whole of Italy, Spain, and part 
of France, and, among other religious exploits, re-esta- 
blished the congregations of the Virgin. Congrega- 
tions both of men and women are now very numerous, 
although they perhaps want that unity of purpose 
and of direction, which in former times rendered them 
so dangerously powerful. Their denominations are 
numberless; congregations of the Rosary, congregations 
of the Assumption of the Virgin, congregations of the 
Blood of Jesus (del Sangue di Gesu). In those places 
where there are no Jesuits, they are directed by proxy, 
some other religious community, as the Liguorist, the 
Lazarist, the Passionist, or such like idle and corrupted 
erew, being appointed to that duty. In church affairs, 
the members of these congregations have, so to speak, 
privileges above the rest of the citizens. They go 
foremost in the processions and other exhibitions; they 
wear a distinctive badge; they are entitled to a greater 
number of days of indulgence, and so on. Besides 



COMMOTION AMONG THE JESUITS, 219 



these things, which satisfy the devotional feeling, and 
flatter the vanity, especially that of the common people 
in small towns, each individual member may count 
upon receiving the protection and indirect assistance 
of the father director. 

The boarders in the Jesuit college are subjected to 
almost the same mode of life as that of the Scholars (the 
second class of Jesuits), which, however, is not strictly 
conformable to that of the other classes ; Loyola hav- 
ing given them a dispensation from some external 
practices, acts of devotion and of mortification, that they 
may have more time for study.* The boarders are 
placed in large rooms, called in Italian Camerate, in 
French Chambres, each of which accommodates from 
fifteen to twenty, who are under the superintendence 
of a Prefetto and Vice-prefetto. At six in the morn- 
ing a bell gives the signal for rising. The prefect 
immediately chants some prayers, which are repeated 
by some of the youths who are less asleep than the 
rest. Half an hour is allowed for dressing ; an hour 
is spent in the chapel, hearing mass, and singing the 
praises of the Virgin and St Ignatius. Study follows, 
and after breakfast, for which half an hour is allowed, 
they descend to the public schoolroom, where they 
mix with the day-boarders, with whom, however, they 
have no opportunities of secret converse. Two pupils, 
and every day different ones, are secretly charged by 
the prefect to give an account of the behaviour of all 
the others, and they are punished if they are not ac- 
curate in their denunciations. At twelve they sit down 
to dinner, during which ascetic books are read from 
a pulpit placed in the refectory. After the evening 
school, they walk for an hour in winter, two in sum- 
mer, and almost double that time on holidays. Before 
supper, half an hour is again spent in the chapel; and 
what remains of the evening after supper is spent in 
study and recreation. At nine o'clock, being warned 

* Const, pars iv. chap. vi. § iii. 



220 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS, 



by the ringing of the bell, they prepare for rest, ac- 
companying the prefect in chanting the Litany of the 
Virgin. No one is allowed to go from one earner ata 
to another, without the express permission of the 
prefect or vice-prefect, one of whom must accom- 
pany him. No one. not even a parent, is allowed to 
visit a boarder without the consent of the superior, 
who is almost always present at the interview. No 
letter can be sent off or received by any boarder but 
it must pass through the hands of the rector, who 
stops it if he thinks proper. The boarders never go 
home except during the holidays in September, and 
some remain in the college even during that period. 
The consequence is, that the influence of the family is 
gradually destroyed, and the Jesuits mould these 
youthful hearts and intellects according to their own 
Jesuitical pattern. Every fortnight all the boarders 
must go to the confessional, and severe punishment is 
inflicted on those who transgress this principal rule of 
the college. But no one ever dares to brave the 
punishment, though many do not scruple to evade the 
duty by practising a little ruse.* 

* To ascertain whether every one goes to the confessional every other 
Saturday, each boarder receives a card with his own Dame written on 
it, which he must deliver to his confessor, who gives it back to the rec- 
tor. I may here mention that this method is also practised at Easter in 
the whole of the States of the Church, with all the inhabitants. If your 
card is not among those collected from the different confessors, it is evi- 
dent that you have not fulfilled the precept, and if you do not give a 
satisfactory reason for it before the 26th of August, your name is fixed on 
the door of the parish church as that of a sacrilegious and infamous per- 
son. In the college of Senegallia, where I was educated, we were about 
two hundred boarders. Eight confessors were appointed to shrive. At 
sunset we descended to the chapel, whence we went in turn into the diffe- 
rent schoolrooms to confess. The rooms were darkened, and the fathers 
were seated each in an arm chair, before a sort of confessional, through 
a grating of which our sins had to find their way to their pious ears. To 
such confessors as had been more severe on former occasions we usually 
played some tricks, such as putting a piece of raw garlic into our mouths, 
and pretending to be seized with a fit of coughing or sneezing, so that the 
poor confessor, who, in order to hear our confession well, was obliged to 
nave his face close to the grating, had his olfactory nerves assailed by a 
puff of breath whioh was anything but agreeable. The penance, you 
may be sure, was double, but it never deterred us from playing similar 



COMMOTION AMONG THE JESUITS. 



221 



In all the Jesuit colleges, as we have already ob- 
served, reigns the greatest decency, and a sort of 
military order and discipline, which is highly pleas- 
ing to the young. " Their colleges were open for 
all the graceful arts. Even dancing and fencing were 
not excluded. The annual distribution of prizes was 
preceded not only by tragedies full of political allusions, 
but also by ballets composed by the reverend fathers, 
and executed by the most agile of their pupils."* 

No pains were spared by the Jesuits to advance 
their pupils in their studies. But as the end which 
they taught them to have in view was not the truth — as 
it was not their purpose to inspire their young minds 
with those noble and generous sentiments which form 
great citizens, but only to instruct them in their pecu- 
liar doctrines, and render them subservient to their 
order, the whole course of instruction was directed to 
the attainment of these ends, and the progress of their 
pupils was more brilliant than solid — partook more of 
a theatrical character than of a serious method of 
learning that would have developed the power of 
reason and reflection. In the speculative sciences 
especially, their instruction was most defective. The 
student was by no means taught to penetrate the 
superficial crust of prejudices and appearances on 
which the mass of mankind build their opinions, and 

pranks again, though we religiously fulfilled it. Sometimes we contrived 
to evade confession altogether in the following manner : — One who was 
going in to the confessional took with him the card of another along w T ith 
his own. In kissing the hand of the confessor, after having confessed, he 
put into it one card, and slipped the other upon the table on which the 
father laid those he was receiving After all was over, the servant 
brought in a light, and the confessor collected all the tickets he found on 
the table, and took them with him. Meanwhile, the person whose card 
had thus passed through the confessional without its owner was skulking 
in a closet or some other hiding-place, till, after the lapse of a sufficient 
length of time, he returned, as if he had religiously fulfilled the duty re- 
quired. If you ask whether we believed in the efficacy of confession, I 
answer that we all firmly believed in it, and that in any illness or danger 
we would have earnestly asked for a confessor ; only we did not like to go 
to it so often. 
* Cret. vol. iv. p. 226. 



222 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



to descend into the deeper essence of philosophy; but 
his attention was chiefly directed to the, art of dis- 
puting in pitiable syllogism upon some of their esta- 
blished principles. The most fantastical, and, at the 
same time, attractive questions, were proposed for public 
disputation; and to that incessant fencing of nego, 
concedo, distinguo, &c, the apprentice philosopher 
was taught to give all his attention, and, in the dis- 
play of ability in this exercise, to place all his glory. 
The Jesuits, so celebrated as casuists, cannot boast of 
any great philosopher. If some of their pupils acquired 
a great name in science or in literature, they owed it 
to their own creative power, which broke out from 
that sort of magic circle which had been described 
around them. They became great, not because they 
had had good masters, but, on the contrary, because 
they had followed no other master than their own 
inventive genius. And this is always the case — the 
Dantes, the Bacons, the Shakspeares, had no masters. 
The Jesuits cultivated, with more success, archaeology, 
numismatics, and the study of languages. They have 
especially rendered important services to the study of 
the classics, which they strongly recommended as the 
most effectual requisite of a good education. But 
even to their labours in this department of learning 
we cannot render unqualified praise. 

Literature forms the principal part of the education 
of a people. Greece and Rome owe their civilisation 
and grandeur to their poets and orators more than to 
anything else. With the Eschyluses, the Demos- 
theneses, the Horaces, and the Ciceros, disappeared 
the glory, the liberty, the civilisation, of the two 
nations. And if now and then some privileged intel- 
ligences, such as Tacitus and Plutarch, appeared on 
the scene, they could not give a tone to the age, both 
because they stood alone, and because they were the 
reflection, not of their own, but of bygone times, and 
that all the elements of the expiring civilisation were 



COMMOTION AMONG THE JESUITS. 223 



concentrated, we may say, in themselves alone. For it 
is not to the excellence of the form that literature is in- 
debted for its power ; it is rather to its being a vivid re- 
presentation of the thoughts and feelings, the opinions 
and sentiments, the hopes and fears, which constitute 
the life of a nation, and which the writers powerfully 
exhibit because they themselves are powerfully moved 
by them. It was by their possessing this excellence 
in the highest degree that the classical writers of 
antiquity contributed to form the character of their 
countrymen; and it is this which forms the chief 
attraction of their works to the modern student, and 
which renders them so efficient an instrument for 
developing the powers of the youthful mind. Now, how 
can a Jesuit, who has no country, no family, no affec- 
tion, no history, nothing in which to glory but his 
order — how can such a man impart to young minds 
those noble sentiments, those inspirations, which form 
the essential part of classical literature ? " How," 
exclaims our Gioberti,* " how shall the youth love and 
admire the heroes of Plutarch if they are made known 
to him by a Jesuit ?f because," most judiciously adds 
the Italian philosopher, " even if the pupils can repeat 
the half of Demosthenes or of Cicero, the lessOn cannot 
produce any good effect on their tender minds, if it is not 
assisted by the voice, by the manners, by the examples, 
of the interpreter ; so that the soul and the life of the 
master ought to be a mirror and image of that ideal 

* Gioberti is a Roman Catholic priest, ex-Premier of the King of 
Sardinia, and one of our greatest living philosophers. Though strictly- 
orthodox, and even partial to the Papal authority, he has contributed 
more than any other man to give the last fatal blow to the Jesuits in 
Italy. His Gesuita Moderno (Modern Jesuit), in which he lays bare all 
the iniquities of the fathers, has ruined their order for ever, in the 
estimation of the Italians, and effectually prevented them from again set- 
ting foot in Piedmont. I do not share his political or religious creed, 
but Italy must preserve the memory of the benefit he has conferred 
upon her on this point, and I, in particular, have to confess myself 
grateful to him for the advice and encouragement he has kindly given 
me in the compilation of this work. 

t Gesuita Moderno, vol. iii. p. 226. Ed. di Losanna. 



224 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



world into which he introduces the pupil." In fact, 
the Jesuits gave all their attention merely to the 
external form of their compositions. Purity of lan- 
guage, elegance of style, correctness of expression, are, 
generally speaking, the distinctive characteristics of the 
writings of the Jesuits and their pupils. But their 
writings are devoid of invention, of bold and luxuriant 
images, of earnest and passionate expressions, and the 
care they take to publish their style renders them 
affected and often ridiculous. ISo doubt there are 
honourable exceptions ; and Bartoli, for example, Seg- 
neri, and Bourdaloue, may be classed among the first 
Italian and French writers. The Jesuits exercised 
rather the memory than the intelligence of the pupil, 
who not seldom was able to recite volumes of which he 
hardly understood a word. Their greatest merit con- 
sisted in rendering study pleasing ; and many of their 
pupils owe their fame and greatness, not to the inform- 
ation, but to the love of learning, they had acquired in 
their schools. 

The Ratio Studiorum regulated with great pre- 
cision the method of instruction in its most minute 
details, and has ever since been the code followed by 
the J esuits to our day. 

Meanwhile a great change had taken place in the 
general policy of the Society. Through Acquaviva's 
influence, the order, at least as represented by its 
officials in Rome, and by the young generation of 
Jesuits who were devoted to the General, had passed 
from the Spanish into the French camp ; and ever 
after, the Jesuits were in a great measure opposed by 
the Spanish and supported by the French court. Let 
us see how it happened. 

The Jesuits had only partially obeyed the arret 
of the Parliament of Paris which expelled them 
from France. They resided publicly in many pro- 
vinces: secretly and in disguise everywhere. Fol- 
lowing the suggestions of their General, they had 



COMMOTION AMONG THE JESUITS. 225 

changed their language and their conduct, and, 
from being furious Leaguers, were become zealous 
partisans of Henry IV. " Cardinal Tolet has done 
wonders, and has shewn himself a good French- 
man," wrote the French ambassador, Cardinal du 
Perron, to the minister Villeroy.* In fact, he, 
more than any other person, had contributed to obtain 
Henry's absolution. Acquaviva refused to accept, 
without Henry's consent, two new colleges which were 
offered to the order by some town of Languedoc, 
where the Jesuits had been maintained by the local 
parliament. He, the General, and the Pope, the 
king's best friends, as they called themselves, pressed 
him hard to restore the Jesuits, who, on their part, 
promised him the same obedience, the same devotion, 
they had till then shewn to the King of Spain. Above 
all, they offered to uphold his royal authority in all 
its extent, which was then impugned by the Huguenots. 
Henry was in a very perplexing position. He stood 
in need of the Pope's support against the rival house 
of Austria. He felt the necessity of shewing himself 
a zealous Catholic, and he wished to secure, if possible, 
the support of such men as the Jesuits. On the other 
hand, he knew what dangerous and perfidious guests 
they were ; and the parliament, the greatest part of 
the clergy, and all his ministers, were adverse to the 
Society. Sully, the great minister and faithful friend 
of Henry, has handed down to us the sentiments of 
his royal master on this subject. " I do not doubt," 
said the prince to Sully, "that you can easily combat 
this first reason, but I do not think that you will even 
attempt to refute the second, namely, that by neces- 
sity I am compelled to do one of these two things — 
either simply to recall the Jesuits, free them from the 
infamy and disgrace with which they are covered, and 
put to the test the sincerity of their oaths and of their 
splendid promises ; or to expel them in a more absolute 

* Ranke, vol. ii. p. 92, in a note. 



228 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



manner, using against them all the rigour and severity 
that can be thought of to prevent them from ever 
approaching either my person or my estates ; on which 
supposition there is no doubt but that we shall drive 
them to despair, and to the resolution of attempting 
my life, which would render it so miserable to me, 
being always under the apprehension of being poi- 
soned or murdered (for those people have correspond- 
ents everywhere, and are very dexterous in disposing 
the minds of men to whatever they wish), that I think 
it would be better to be alreadv dead, being of Caesar's 
opinion, that the sweetest death is that which is least 
expected and foreseen." * In conformity with this opi- 
nion, Henry, in 1603, issued letters-patent for the 
re-establishment of the Jesuits, and forced the reluc- 
tant parliament to register them. To Acquaviva he 
wrote a warm letter, assuring him of his friendship, 
and expressing to the then convened congregation his 
wishes that the original Constitutions should not be 
altered, and this letter in great part checked the in- 
fluence of the Spanish party, who asked for a reform, 
and were supported by the Spanish court.j 

In the affair of Venice, the two courts shewed the 
same dispositions. It does not enter into the plan of 
this work to narrate the particulars of this famous 
contest, except in so far as the Jesuits were concerned 
in it, and it belongs to their history ; and this we pro- 
ceed to do as shortly as possible. 

Long had the difference lasted between the Roman 
See and the Venetian government, the first asserting 
many privileges of the Church over state affairs, the 
latter denying them. The Jesuits upheld the exorbi- 
tant pretensions of Rome with the utmost pertinacity. 
Kow, it happened, while both parties were exasperated 
against each other, two priests, accused of infamous 
crimes, were, by order of the Venetian government, 
arrested, and delivered up to the ordinary tribunals. 

* Memoir cs de Sully, torn. ii. cli. 3. f See Ranke, vol. ii. p. 132. 




COMMOTION AMONG THE JESUITS. 227 



The Pope was highly incensed at this proceeding, and 
contended that the republic had no right to arrest 
any ecclesiastic, who was subject to none but ecclesi- 
astical authority. The Jesuits were the most zealous 
of the clergy in maintaining this principle. The famous 
Bellarmine asserted, that " the priesthood has its princes 
who govern, not only in spiritual, but also in temporal 
matters. It could not possibly acknowledge any par- 
ticular temporal superior. No man can serve two 
masters. It is for the priest to judge the emperor, 
not the emperor the priest. It would be absurd for 
the sheep to pretend to judge the shepherd."* The 
republic, on the other hand, asserted her sovereign 
rights. Paul V. was in the Papal chair, a man who 
considered the canonical law as the word of God, and 
w^as ready to excommunicate whosoever dared to dis- 
regard its authority. He laid Venice under an inter- 
dict, which, as most of our readers are aware, would 
have shut up all the churches, and prevented the per- 
formance of all religious services within its bounds. 
The government, however, that the public tranquillity 
might not be disturbed, summoned before them all the 
clergy, both regular and secular, and offered them the 
alternative, either to officiate, as in ordinary times, or to 
leave the territory of the republic immediately. They 
did not hesitate for an instant ; not a single copy of the 
Papal brief was fixed up, and public worship was every- 
where conducted as before. The Jesuits, however, in obe- 
dience to the Pope's command, transmitted by their Ge- 
neral, departed from the V enetian States, ostentatiously 
carrying with them the consecrated host, as if they 
would shew, says Gioberti, that God went into exile 
^long with them. When the dispute between Rome 
and the republic was afterwards settled, the senate 
refused, though requested, to re-admit the Jesuits. In 
vain the Pope, and above all, Henry IV., who sent the 
Cardinal Joyeuse to Venice on purpose, used all their 
* See Bellarmine in Ranke, vol. ii. pp. 116, 117. 



228 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS, 



influence to procure the re-establishment of the fathers. 
The republic, encouraged in her resolution by the 
court of Spain, would in no way yield on this point, 
and it was only in 1657 that, in exchange for pecu- 
niary advantages and the support of the Pope in the 
war of Candia, the Jesuits were allowed, under many 
restrictions, to re-enter the Venetian states.* 

By this time Acquaviva had established his autho- 
rity more firmly than ever. The congregations had 
supported him ; the revolt had been quelled ; the rioters 
punished ; and peace for the moment restored to the 
Society. " Acquaviva, so to speak, had gone through 
the iron age of the company — his successor was des- 
tined to govern in the golden age All, during 

a century, bestowed smiles upon the Company of Jesus. 
She became the favourite of the Popes and the kings 
i — the confidant of their ministers — the director of the 
public spirit. All took inspiration froin her — all re- 
turned to her as to its source." f But, notwithstanding 
this flattering and in part true picture, the order had 
received a shock, the effect of which was soon to be 
made manifest. To govern the revolted province of 
Spain, Acquaviva, violating the fundamental law of the 
order, had appointed professed members as adminis- 
trators of colleges, while, to meet the necessity of the 
moment, coadjutors fulfilled the duties assigned by the 
Constitution to the professed. This ultimately proved 
the ruin of the order. Besides this, Mariana J and 
Henriquez,two influential Spanish Jesuits, out of hatred 
to Acquaviva, had pointed out many abuses which had 
crept into the community, and bitterly inveighed 

* Seel' Abbe Racine, Abrege de V Histoire Ecclesiastique, torn. x. p. 40. 
See also Fra Paolo Sarpi, who lias immortalised his name as theologian 
of the Venetian Government, and historian of the contest. 

f Cret. vol. iii. p. 180. 

% Mariana was one of the most learned Spanish Jesuits, the personal 
enemy and the most fiery opponent of Acquaviva. He opposed to his 
utmost Molina's doctrine on grace and free will, and propounded, as we 
have in part seen, the principle of the sovereignty of the people. He was 
held in great veneration among the Spaniards, 



COMMOTION AMONG THE JESUITS. 



229 



against the tyranny of the General and a few of the 
higher functionaries. This had an immediate result 
most injurious to the order. Under the successors of 
Acquaviva, these seeds of revolt and disobedience 
spread so fast, that when, towards the year 1560, the 
General, Goswin Nickel, attempted to enforce obedi- 
ence to the primitive rules, he was solemnly deprived 
by his disciples of all authority. 



Q 



230 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



CHAPTER XI. 

1600-1700. 

DOCTRINES AND MORAL CODE OF THE JESUITS. 

Let not our readers imagine that we shall enter into 
a profound theological discussion about the doctrines 
of the Jesuits. The thing has been repeatedly done, 
and we confess ourselves too deficient scholars in 
divinity, to throw any new light upon it. We shall 
briefly touch the theological question, and shall rather 
enlarge on those principles and maxims by which the 
Jesuits perverted the morals of their votaries, the 
better to domineer over them. 

Acquaviva, in the Ratio Sticdiorum, had introduced 
a clause which threw the Roman Catholic world into 
confusion and alarm. Lainez, as we have observed, 
had already inserted a note in the Constitution regard- 
ing the study of scholastic learning, to this effect, that, 
" if any book of theology could be found more adapted 
to the times, it should be taught." Acquaviva went 
a step further, and declared, " that St Thomas was 
indeed an author deserving of the highest approbation, 
but that it would be an insufferable yoke to be com- 
pelled to follow his footsteps in all things, and on no 
point to be allowed a free opinion; that many im- 
portant doctrines had been more firmly established and 
better elucidated by recent theologians than by the 
holy doctor himself." * This declaration produced a 
great commotion in the Roman Catholic world, and 
* See Ratio Studiorum. See also Ranke, vol. ii. p. 88. 



MORAL CODE OF THE JESUITS. 



231 



the Inquisition declared " that the Ratio Studiorum 
was the most dangerous, rash, and arrogant book that 
had ever appeared, and calculated to produce many 
disturbances in the Christian commonwealth. " * But 
a greater scandal and more violent tempest was 
awakened by Molina, who in 1588 published at Evora 
a work on grace and free-will,f which inculcated a 
doctrine quite at variance with that taught by St 
Thomas and received by the Church. He maintained 
that free-will, even without the help of grace, can pro- 
duce morally good works, that it can resist tempta- 
tion, and can elevate itself to various acts of hope, 
faith, love, and repentance. When a man has ad- 
vanced thus far, God then bestows grace upon him on 
account of Christ's merits, by means of which grace 
he experiences the supernatural effects of sanctifica- 
tion ; yet, as before this grace had been received, in 
like manner, free-will is continually in action ; and as 
everything depends on it, it rests with us to make the 
help of God effectual or ineffectual. Molina, in con- 
sequence, rejected the doctrine of Thomas and Augus- 
tine on predestination, and refused to admit it, as 
too stern and cruel. This is the substance of Molina's 
doctrine. \ 

The Dominicans, a great part of the theologians, 
and some of the Jesuits, loudly exclaimed against it, 
and the Inquisition was on the point of condemning it/ 
when, by the influence of Acquaviva, who sided with 
Molina, the affair was called up to Rome. Sixty-five 
meetings and thirty-seven disputations were held in 
presence of the Pope Clement VIII., who took a lively 
interest in the subject, wrote much upon it him- 
self, and who was resolved to condemn the Jesuits' 
doctrine. But when it was reported to him that the 
fathers spoke of calling a general council, and that in 

* Serry, in Eanke, vol. ii. p. 88. 

+ Arbitrii cum gratice donis concordia. 

J See it exposed more at length in Ranke, vol. ii. p. 90. 



232 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



one of their public discussions the thesis to be proved 
was to this effect, that " it is not an article of faith 
that such and such a Pope (Clement VIII., for example) 
is really Pope;"* the poor Pope exclaimed, "They 
dare everything, everything ! " paused, and died without 
having given any decision. The disputations were 
resumed under Paul V., who also held the doctrine of 
the Thomists. The Jesuits, however, had given him 
such proofs of their devotion in the affair of Venice, 
and were so powerful in the Church, that he had 
neither the heart nor the courage to condemn them. 
In consequence, in 1607 he imposed silence on both 
parties till he should pronounce a decision which 
would set the matter at rest, f As this decision never 
came, and as the doctrine of the Jesuits was not con- 
demned, they chanted victory, and lost no time in 
having Molina's book circulated and taught every- 
where. 

But a formidable antagonist arose a little later to 
oppose its progress. This was the sect of the 
Jansenists, so celebrated for its labours and suffer- 
ings, which form so interesting a chapter in the history 
of the Bomish Church. Jansenius, the founder, was 
born in 1585, in Holland — studied at Louvain— was 
ordained a priest — and, in 1636, consecrated Bishop 
of Ypres. Shocked at the doctrine of the Jesuits, he 
and Du Verger de Hauranne (afterwards Abbot of St 
Cyran, by which name he is better known) plunged 
themselves into the study of the ancient fathers of the 
Church, and especially of Augustine; and, after six years 
of labour, Jansenius composed a book, in which the 
ancient doctrine of the Thomists was again pro- 
pounded, advancing, however, a step towards Luther's 
doctrine on grace and justification. Being smitten by 
the plague, Jansenius, on his death-bed, submitted his 
manuscript to the judgment of the Roman See; but 
St Cyran, without waiting for the oracle of the Vati- 
* Serry, + Eanke, vol. ii. p. 131. 



MORAL CODE OF THE JESUITS. 



233 



can, published the Augustinus (such was the title of 
Jansenius' work), which produced a great sensation. 
St Cyran became the chief of a school, in which w T ere 
grouped scores of young ecclesiastics, and some of the 
most eminent men in France. The nuns of Port- 
Royal, amongst whom were almost the whole of the 
Arnauld family, under the guidance of the venerable 
Mere Angelique, the sister of the famous Arnauld, 
followed the doctrine of St Cyran. Cardinal Richelieu, 
jealous that any other person than himself should exer- 
cise influence or power, sent St Cyran to the dungeon 
of Vincennes. On the death of his persecutor, the noble 
sufferer being set at liberty, returned to his duties, 
and was received, and almost worshipped as a saint, 
by the increased number of his disciples. The Jesuits, 
alarmed at the favour with which the doctrine of 
Jansenius was received, bestirred themselves in every 
quarter to impugn it, and filled the world with their 
clamours and imprecations against the book, as if the 
Bishop of Ypres had denied the very existence of God. 
The Pope was applied to to anathematise the impious 
work; and. when he hesitated, they directed his 
attention to a passage, in which his infallibility was 
indirectly called in question. Of course this was 
a heresy not to be overlooked. Urban VIII. ex- 
pressed his disapprobation of the book ; but this 
had no effect in checking its popularity. Such men 
as Arnauld, Le Maitre, De Sacy, Pascal, supported 
Jansenius' doctrine, and their many followers disre- 
garded the denunciations of its opponents. The 
Jesuits became furious. Thev embodied, in their own 
peculiar way, the essential doctrines of Jansenius in 
five propositions, and asked Innocent X. solemnly to 
condemn them. The Pope was a man who abhorred 
theological controversy, and would not willingly have 
engaged in this ; but it was no longer in the power of 
the Court of Rome to resist the influence of the 
Jesuits. The five propositions were condemned, as 



234 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



tainted with heresy. The Jansenists indignantly 
denied that such propositions were to be found in the 
Augustinus, and that they expressed the sense attri- 
buted to them ; but Alexander VII., who was now the 
reigning Pope, declared, by a bull, that the proposi- 
tions were really to be found in Jansenius' book. 
Of all the extravagant pretensions of the Roman See, 
this was assuredly the greatest. The Jansenists, in 
their defence, while they declared themselves good 
and devout Catholics, asserted, nevertheless, that the 
Pope's infallibility did not extend to matters of fact. 
" Why make such a noise ? M they said to their oppo- 
nents — " we acknowledge that these propositions are 
heterodox. Shew us them in Augustinus, and we 
will unite with you in condemning them," " We 
need not take the trouble to shew them to you," was 
the answer; " the Pope has declared them to be in 
the. book — and the Pope is infallible." So, if the Pope 
affirms that a magnificent castle is to be found in the 
middle of the ocean, according to a doctrine to which 
the Papist sticks even in the present day, one must 
believe it, or be excommunicated ! The Jansenists 
endured all sorts of persecution rather than submit to 
so unj ust a decree ; and it is a striking instance of 
human inconsistency, that men so noble and upright, 
who had approached so near the Protestant doctrine, 
at least in its most essential part, should continue 
within the pale of the Roman Church. The fact, we 
believe, may be partly explained by that pertinacity 
which men of all parties display in maintaining a posi- 
tion they have once taken up in any controversy, that 
they may not incur the ignominy of defeat. " The 
supporters of the Augustinus are heretics," the 
Jesuits had said from the beginning; and the Jansen- 
ists, in order that the book might be declared ortho- 
dox, had indignantly repelled the accusation, and de- 
clared themselves good and devout Roman Catholics — 
and they maintained to the end their first declaration. 



MORAL CODE OF THE JESUITS. 235 

Alas ! how many eloquent pages Arnauld, Nicole, and 
Pascal have written, to prove themselves the votaries 
and slaves of the idol of Rome ! 

Not to interrupt our narrative, we have brought 
the reader far beyond the epoch we are considering. 
We must now look a little back, and see how the 
Jesuits had become so powerful a brotherhood. We 
have already seen what arts they used, and what doc- 
trines they propounded, to get a footing in different 
countries, acquire an influence over persons of their 
own persuasion, and a preponderance in the Court of 
Rome. But as the doctrines and practices by which 
they had obtained their ends were no longer suited, 
or, at least, were not the most efficient, for the times, 
they now changed both doctrines and practices with 
wonderful promptitude. 

When the order was established, the Court of Rome 
had itself to struggle for existence, and was on the 
verge of being stripped of its ill-gotten and ill-used 
authority. The politic Charles V. lent it soldiers — 
the Jesuits, theologians for the contest. Lainez, 
Salmeron, Lejay, and Canisius, rendered it as good 
and unequivocal services as the imperial armies. But 
such men as those were no longer needed. Not only 
had the flood of the Reformation been stayed, but 
Rome was in the utmost exultation at having recon- 
quered many lost provinces ; and, as theological con- 
troversies were now raging in the camp of her 
adversary, the Papacy, though emboldened to assert 
pretensions which, a century before, she would never 
have dreamt of mentioning, relaxed that activity 
which she had for a moment displayed, and returned 
to her former life of intrigues and indolence. How- 
ever, the great contest with the Protestants had left 
among the Roman Catholics a tendency, a wish, we 
do not say to become better Christians, but to make a 
greater display of their religion. All the external 
practices of devotion which, in their eyes, constituted 



236 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



the true believer, were more eagerly resorted to ; and, 
above all, the confessional was frequented with unpre- 
cedented assiduity. To have a confessor exclusively 
for one's self was the surest sign of orthodoxy, and 
became as fashionable as it is now to have a box at 
the opera. Sovereigns, ministers, courtiers, noble- 
men — every man. in short, who had a certain position 
in society, had his own acknowledged confessor. Even 
the mistresses of princes pretended to the privilege — 
and Madame de Pompadour will prove to her spiritual 
guide that it is dangerous to oppose the caprices of a 
favourite. The Jesuits saw at once the immense 
advantage they would derive if they could enlarge 
the number of their clients, especially among the 
higher classes. They were already, in this particu- 
lar, far advanced in the public favour ; they were 
known to be very indulgent ; had long since obtained 
the privilege of absolving from those sins which only 
the Pope himself could pardon ; and Suarez, their 
great theologian, had even attempted to introduce 
confession by letter, as a more easy and expeditious 
way of reaching all penitents. * 

But by this time they had made fearful progress in 
the art of flattering the bad passions, and winking at 
the vices, of those who had recourse to their ministry 
in order to make, as they believed, their peace with 
God. Escobar collected in six large volumes the 
doctrines of different Jesuit casuists, those preceptors 
of immorality and prevarication; and his book was 
for a time the only code followed by the generality of 
the Jesuits.f However, I will not assert that they 
taught downright immorality, to corrupt mankind 

* Crefr. vol. ii. p. 176. 

f Escobar compiled his work of Moral Theology from ^ twenty-four 
Jesuit authors, and in his preface he finds an analogy betwixt his book 
and " that in the Apocalypse which was sealed with seven seals/' and 
states that " Jesus presented it thus sealed to the lour living creatures," 
Suarez, Yasquez, Molina, and Valencia (four celebrated casuists), in 
presence of the four-and- twenty Jesuits, who represent the four-and- 
twenty elders. 



MORAL CODE OF THE JESUITS. 



237 



merely for the sake of corrupting them. No ; if this 
has sometimes been the case with individuals, it was 
never so with a sect. They had another end in view. 
As we said, they aspired to be the general confessors, 
for their own private purposes; concealing their de- 
signs under the mask of piety, they gave out that it 
was essential for the good of religion that they should 
have the direction of all consciences; and, as an 
inducement to penitents to resort to them, they 
offered doctrines in conformity to the wishes of persons 
of all sorts. Hence all their casuists were not licen- 
tious and indulgent to vice. A few of them were strict, 
severe, and indeed teachers of evangelical precepts, 
and those they held out to the few penitents who were 
of a more rigid morality, and quoted them when accused 
of teaching relaxed doctrines ; while for the multitude, 
who are generally more loose in their morals, they 
had the bulk of their casuists. Father Petau calls this 
"an obliging and accommodating conduct/' So, for 
example, if the Jesuit confessor perceives that a peni- 
tent feels inclined to make restitution of ill-gotten 
money, he will certainly encourage him to do so, 
praise him for his holy resolution, insist to be himself 
the instrument of the restitution, taking care, how- 
ever, that it should be known again. But if another 
person accuse himself of theft, but shew no disposition 
to make restitution, be sure that the Jesuit confessor 
will find in some book or other of his brother Jesuits 
some sophistry to set his conscience at rest, and per- 
suade him that he may safely retain what he has stolen 
from his neighbour. 

The existence of books to which those pernicious 
maxims have been consigned, having put it out of the 
power of the Jesuits to impugn their genuineness ; in 
order to exculpate their Society, they have cast a 
reproach upon the teachers of their own Church, and 
even blasphemed Christianity. " The probabilism," 
says their historian, " was not born with the Jesuits ; at 



238 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



the moment of their establishment probabilism reigned 
in the schools." * And again, " Ever since the origin of 
Christianity, the world had complained of the austerity 
of certain precepts ; the Jesuits came to bring relief 
from these grievances." f 

But, that our readers may judge for themselves of 
the character of Jesuitical morality, we shall lay before 
them some of their doctrines ; and in doing so (be it 
observed), we shall quote as our authorities none but 
Jesuit authors, and such as have been approved and are 
held in veneration by the Society. 

It is evident that, in the confessional, everything 
depends upon the conception formed of transgression 
and sin. Now, according to the Jesuitical doctrines, 
we do not sin, unless we have a clear perception and 
understanding of the sin as sin, and unless our will 
freely consent to it.J The following are the conse- 
quences which the Jesuit casuists have deduced from 
that principle : — 

" A confessor perceives that his penitent is in in- 
vincible ignorance, or at least in innocent ignorance, 
and he does not hope that any benefit will be derived 
from his advice, but rather anxiety of mind, strife, or 
scandal. Should he dissemble I Suarez affirms that 
he ought; because, since his admonition will be fruit- 
less, ignorance will excuse his penitent from sm."§ 

" Although he who, through inveterate habit, in- 
advertently swears a falsehood, may seem bound to 
confess the propensity, yet he is commonly excused. 
The reason is, that no one commonly reflects upon the 
obligation by which he is bound to extirpate the habit ; 
.... and, therefore, since he is excused from the sin, he 

* Cret. vol. iv. p. 58. 

+ Le monde s'etait plaint depnis l'origine du Ckristianisme de 
l'austerite de certains precepts ; les Jesuites venaient an seconr de ces 
doleances, &c. — Cret. vol. iv. p. 50. 

+ Busembaum, apnd Ranke, vol. ii. p. 394. 

§ Antony Escobar. L. Theol. moralis vigenti-quatuor Societatis Jem 
Doctoribus reseratus. Ex. de psenitentia, ch. vii. N. 155. (Lugdnni, 
1656. Ed. Mus. Brit.) 



MORAL CODE OF THE JESUITS, 



239 



will also be excused from confession. Some maintain 
that the same may be said of blasphemy, heresy, and 
of the aforesaid oath ; . . . . and, consequently, that such, 
things, committed inadvertently, are neither sins in 
themselves, nor the cause of sins, and therefore need 
not necessarily be confessed" * 

(i Wherever there is no knowledge of wickedness, 
there is also of necessity no sin. It is sufficient to 
have at least a confused notion of the heinousness of a 
sin, without which knowledge there would never be a 
flagrant crime. For instance, one man kills another, 
believing it indeed to be wrong, but conceiving it to 
be nothing more than a trifling fault. Such a man 
does not greatly sin, because it is knowledge only 
which points out the wickedness or the grossness of it 
to the will. Therefore, criminality is only imputed 
according to the measure of knowledge." 

" If a man commit adultery or suicide, reflecting 
indeed, but still very imperfectly and superficially, 
upon the wickedness and great sinfulness of those 
crimes ; however heinous may be the matter, he still 
sins but slightly. The reason is, that as a knowledge 
of the wickedness is necessary to constitute the sin, so 
is a full clear knowledge and reflection necessary to 
constitute a heinous sin. And thus I reason with 
Vasquez : In order that a man may freely sin, it is 
necessary to deliberate whether he sins or not. But 
he fails to deliberate upon the moral ivickedness of 
it, if he does not reflect, at least by doubting, upon it 
during the act. Therefore he does not sin, unless he 
reflects upon the ivickedness of it. It is also certain 
that a full knowledge of such wickedness is required 
to constitute a mortal sin. For it would be unworthy 
the goodness of God to exclude a man from glory, and 
to reject him for ever, for a sin on which he had not 
fully deliberated ; but if reflection upon the ivickedness 

* Thomas Tambourin. Methodus Exwcditce Confessionis, L. ii. ch. 
iii. § 3, N. 23. (Lugduni, 1659. Antverpiae, 1656. Ed. Coll. Sicn.) 



240 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



of it has only been partial, deliberation has not been 
complete ; and therefore the sin is not a mortal sin."* 
The practical consequences of this doctrine have 
been admirably represented by Pascal in his happiest 
vein of irony. " Oh, my dear sir/' says he to the 
Jesuit who had exposed to him the afore-mentioned 
doctrine, " what a blessing this will be to some persons 
of my acquaintance ! I must positively introduce them 
to you. You have never, perhaps, in all your life, 
met with people who had fewer sins to account for ! 
In the first place, they never think of God at all ; 
their vices have got the better of their reason ; they 
have never known either their weakness or the physi- 
cian who can cure it; they have never thought of 
■ desiring the health of their soul,' and still less of 
( praying to God to bestow it;' so that, according to 
M. le Moine, they are still in the state of baptismal 
innocence. They have 'never had a thought of 
loving God, or of being contrite for their sins;' so 
that, according to Father Annat, they have never 
committed sin through the want of charity and peni- 
tence. Their life is spent in a perpetual round of all 
sorts of pleasures, in the course of which they have not 
been interrupted by the slightest remorse. These 
excesses had led me to imagine that their perdition 
w r as inevitable ; but you, father, inform me that these 
same excesses secure their salvation. Blessings on 
you, my good father, for this new way of justifying 
people ! Others prescribe painful austerities for heal- 
ing the soul ; but you shew that souls which may be 
thought desperately diseased are in quite good health. 
What an excellent device for being happy both in this 
world and in the next ! I had always supposed that 
the less a man thought of God, the more he sinned ; 
but, from what I see now, if one could only succeed in 
bringing himself not to think upon God at all, every- 

* George de Rhodes. Disput. Tlieologice Scholastics, tom. i. Dis. 
xi. quaes, xi. sec. 1 and 2, and Dis. i. q. iii. sec. 2, § 3. (Lugduni, 1671*) 



MORAL CODE OF THE JESUITS. 



241 



thing would be pure with him in all time coming. 
Away with your half-and-half sinners, who retain 
some sneaking affection for virtue ! They will be 
damned, every soul of them. But commend me to 
your arrant sinners — hardened, unalloyed, out-and- 
out, thorough-bred sinners. Hell is no place for 
them ; they have cheated the devil, by sheer devotion 
to his service." * 

But if you are not such an arrant hardened sinner 
but that your conscience warns you of your guilt, then 
come to the doctrine of probability, the A B C of the 
Jesuitical code of morality, which will set your trouble- 
some conscience at rest. Listen ! 

" The true opinion is, that it is not only lawful to 
follow the more probable but less safe opinion .... 
but also that the less safe may be followed when there 
is an equality of probability." 

" I agree in the opinion of Henriquez, Vasquez, and 
Perez, who maintain that it is sufficient for an inexpe- 
rienced and unlearned man to follow the opinion which 
he thinks to be probable, because it is maintained by 
good men who are versed in the art ; although that 
opinion may be neither the more safe, nor the more 
common, nor the more probable. 

" Sotus thinks that it would be very troublesome to a 
penitent, if the priest, after having heard his confession, 
should send him back without absolution, to confess 
himself again to another priest, if he could absolve 
him with a safe conscience against his own (the 
priest's) opinion; especially when another priest 
might not perhaps be readily found who would be- 
lieve the opinion of the penitent to be probable. 

" It may be asked whether a confessor may give 
advice to a penitent in opposition to his own opinion ; 
or, if he should think in any case that restitution 
ought to be made, whether he may advise that the 

* In quoting Pascal, we make use of the translation of Dr M'Crie, to 
render the author's meaning better than we could do. P. 107. 



242 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



opinion of others may be followed, who maintain that 
it need not be made? / answer, that he lawfully 
may, . . . because he may follow the opinion of an- 
other in his own practice, and therefore he may advise 
another person to follow it. Still it is better, in giving 
advice, always to follow the more probable opinion to 
which a man is ever accustomed to adhere, especially 
when the advice is given in writing, lest contradic- 
tion be discovered. It is also sometimes expedient to 
send the consulting person to another doctor or con- 
fessor who is known to hold an opinion favourable to 
the inquirer, provided it be probable."* 

" Without respect of persons may a judge, in order 
to favour his friend, decide according to any probable 
opinion, while the question of right remains unde- 
cided ? 

" If the judge should think each opinion equally 
probable, for the sake of his friend he may lawfully 
pronounce sentence according to the opinion which is 
more favourable to the interests of that friend. He 
may, moreover, with the intent to serve his friend, at 
one time judge according to one opinion, and at an- 
other time according to the contrary opinion, pro- 
vided only that no scandal result from the decision'' \ 

" An unbeliever who is persuaded that his sect is 
probable, although the opposite sect may be more pro- 
bable, would certainly be obliged, at the point of 
death, to embrace the true faith, which he thinks to 
be the more probable. . . . But, except under such 
circumstances, he would not. . . . Add to this, that 
the mysteries of faith are so sublime, and the Chris- 
tian morals so repugnant to the laivs of flesh and 
blood, that no greater probability whatever may be 

* John of Salas. Disputationum JR. P. Joannis de Salas, eSoc. Jesu, 
in primam secundce D. Thomce, torn. i. tr. 8, sec. 7, 9, N. 74, 83. (Bar- 
cinone, 1607. Ed. Bibl. Arch. Cant. Lamb.) 

•f Gregory of Valentia. Commentariorum Theologicorum, torn. iii. 
dis, v. quaes. 7, punct. iy. (Lutetise Parisiorum, 1609. Ed. ColL Sion). 



MORAL CODE OF THE JESUITS. 



243 



accounted sufficient to enforce the obligation of be- 
lieving* 

" Indeed, while I perceive so many different opi- 
nions maintained upon points connected with morality, 
I think that the Divine providence is apparent ; for, in 
diversity of opinions, the yoke of Christ is easily 
borne.' 'f 

" A confessor may absolve penitents, according to 
the probable opinion of the penitent, in opposition to 
his own, and is even bound to do so." J 

" Again, it is probable that pecuniary compensation 
may be made for defamation ; it is also probable that 
it cannot be made. May 1, the defamed, exact to-day 
pecuniary compensation from my detainer, and to- 
morrow, and even on the same day, may I, the defamer 
of another, refuse to compensate with money for the 
reputation of which I have deprived him ?..../ 
affirm that it is lawful to do at pleasure sometimes 
the one and sometimes the other. 

" Those ignorant confessors are to be blamed who 
always think that they do ivell in obliging their peni- 
tents to make restitution, because it is at all times 
more safe."§ 

By this abominable doctrine the confessors were made 
to answer yes or no, as might be most agreeable to 
their penitents ; and these might oblige the confessor 
to absolve them of their sins, if they only themselves 
believed that they were not sins. Imagine what an 
arrant knave the person inclined to do evil must have 
become, when, to the firm belief that the absolution of 
the confessor cleanses from all crimes, was superadded 

* Thomas Sanchez. Opus Morale in praicepta Decalogi. L. ii. c. i. 
N. 6. (Venetiis, 1614. Antverpise, 1624. Ed. Coll. Sion.) 

+ Antony Escobar. Universce Theologies M oralis Receytiores absque 
lite Sentential, necnon Problematical Disquisitiones, torn. i. L. ii. sect. i. 
de consc. c. 2. N. 18. (Lugduni, 1652. Ed. Bibl. Acad. Cant.) 

% Simon de Lessau. Propositions dictees dans le College des Jesuites 
$ Amiens De prsecept. Decal. c. i. art. 4. 

§ Thomas Tamburin. Explicatio Decalogi. L. i. c. iii. § 4. N. 15. 
(Lugduni, 1659. Lugduni, 1665. Ed. Coll. Sion.) 



244 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



tlie certainty that this confessor must absolve him almost 
according to his own wishes. We shudder to think of it! 

The doctrine of equivocation came in aid of that of 
probabilism. By the former, according to Sanchez, 
" it is permitted to use ambiguous terms, leading people 
to understand them in a different sense from that in 
which we understand them."* " A man may swear," 
according to the same author, " that he never did such 
a thing (though he actually did it), meaning within 
himself that he did not do so on such a day, or before 
he was born, or understanding any other such circum- 
stances, while the words which he employs have no 
such sense as would discover his meaning." f And 
Filiutius proves that in so speaking one does not even 
he, because, says he, " it is the intention that deter- 
mines the quality of the action ; and one may avoid 
falsehood if, after saying aloud jT swear that I have 
not done that, he add in a low voice, to-day ; or after 
saying aloud, i" swear, he interpose in a whisper, that 
I say, and then continue aloud, that I have done that, 
and this is telling the truth." 

With mental reservation and probabilism, they have 
sanctioned all sorts of crimes. The varlet might 
help his master to commit rape or adultery, provided 
he do not think of the sin, but of the profit he may 
reap from it — so says father Bauny. If a servant 
think his salary is not an adequate compensation for 
services, he may help himself to some of his master's 
property to make it equal to his pretensions — so 
teaches the same father. You may kill your enemy 
for a box on the ear, as Escobar asserts in the follow- 
ing words : — " It is perfectly right to kill a person 
who has given us a box on the ear, although he 
should run away, provided it is not done through 
hatred or revenge, and there is no danger of giving 
occasion thereby to murders of a gross kind and hurt- 
ful to society. And the reason is, that it is as lawful 

* Op. Mor. p. 2. t Ibid. 



MORAL CODE OF THE JESUITS. 



245 



to pursue the thief that has stolen our honour, as him 
that has run away with our property. For, although 
your honour cannot be said to be in the hands of your 
enemy in the same sense as your goods and chattels 
are in the hands of the thief, still it may be recovered 
in the same way — by shewing proofs of greatness and 
authority, and thus acquiring the esteem of men. 
And, in point of fact, is it not certain that the man 
who has received a buffet on the ear is held to be 
under disgrace, until he has- wiped off the insult with 
the blood of his enemy?" 

In short, you may be a fraudulent bankrupt, thief, 
assassin, profligate, impious atheist even, with a safe 
conscience, provided always you confess to a Jesuit 
confessor. It is doubtless in this that we are to see 
the efficacy of that miraculous gift, which we read at 
page 13 Loyola had received from heaven, and trans- 
mitted to his successors — the gift of healing troubled 
consciences; and this is even boldly asserted by them- 
selves. In the Imago primi Soeculi, S. 3, ch. 8, are 
words to this effect : — " With the aid of pious finesse 
and holy artifice of devotion, crimes may be expiated 
now-a-days alacrius, with more joy and alacrity, 
than they were committed in former days; and a 
great many people may be washed from their stains 
almost as cleverly as they contracted them." After 
this quotation, we need not trouble the reader with 
any more regarding the doctrine of the Jesuits on 
social duties. We only beg of him, in order that he 
may well understand all the enormity of these doc- 
trines, to look at them from the point of view of the 
Papists, w T ho consider the confessional as the only way 
of salvation, and who blindly obey their spiritual 
fathers, especially if they flatter their passions, and 
promise them paradise as the reward of their vices. 

It is also of importance that our readers should be 
made acquainted with the doctrine of the Jesuits 
regarding religious duties, and the love which is due 



246 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



to God, that they may the better judge of the cha- 
racter of those champions of Romanism, those monks 
who are labouring hard to make proselytes to their 
religion — the only true one, as they pretend, out of 
which there is no salvation. 

Father Antony Sirmond, in his book on The Defence 
of Virtue, has the following passage : — " St Thomas 
says that we are obliged to love God as soon as we 
come to the use of reason ; that is rather too soon ! 
Scotus says, every Sunday ; pray, for ivhat reason ? 
Others say, when we are sorely tempted ; yes, if 
there be no other way of escaping the temptation. 
Sotus says, when we have received a benefit from 
God ; good, in the way of thanking him for it. Others 
say, at death — rather late I As little do I think it 
binding at the reception of any sacrament ; attrition, 
in such a case, is quite enough, along with confession — 
if convenient. Suarez says, that it is binding at some 
time or another; but at what time? He does not 
know ; and what that doctor does not know, 1 know not 
who should know." * 

And father Pinter can crown those execrable doc- 
trines by the impious assertion, that the dispensation 
from the painful obligation to love God is purchased 
for us through the merits of Christ's blood. " It was 
reasonable," says that sacrilegious Jesuit, " that 
under the law of grace in the New Testament, God 
should relieve us from that troublesome and arduous 
obligation which existed under the law of bondage, to 
exercise an act of perfect contrition, in order to be 
justified; and that the place of this should be sup- 
plied by the sacraments instituted in aid of an easier 
exercise ; otherwise, indeed, Christians, who are the 
children, would have no greater facility in gaining 
the good graces of their Father than the Jews, who 
were the slaves, had in obtaining the mercy of their 
Lord and Master." f 

• Tr. 1. et. 2. n. 21. f Pintereau in Pascal, pp. 205, 206. 



MORAL CODE OF THE JESUITS. 



247 



And men guilty of all sorts of crimes — men who 
pretend that no love is due to God, that not even 
attrition is necessary for the remission of sins — such 
men shall be made worthy of the eternal blessedness 
through some idolatrous practices ! Such is the doc- 
trine taught by Jesuits, and. we must add, by most of 
the Roman Catholic clergy, some of whom we are going 
to bring under our reader's eye. We beg permission to 
quote Pascal again. Our readers will certainly prefer 
the trenchant, sarcastic style of the celebrated Jansen- 
ist to our imperfect manner of narration. In a dia- 
logue which he pretends to have had with a Jesuit, 
the father addresses him in the following words : — 

" 6 Would you not be infinitely obliged to any one 
who should open to you the gates of paradise ? Would 
you not give millions of gold to have a key by which 
you might gain admittance whenever you pleased ? 
You need not be at such expense ; here is one — here 
are a hundred for much less money/ 

* At first I was at a loss to know whether the good 
father was reading or talking to me, but he soon put 
the matter beyond doubt by adding : — 

" 6 These, sir, are the opening words of a fine book, 
written by Father Barry of our Society ; for I never 
give you anything of my own.' 

" < What book is it ? ' asked I. 

" ' Here is its title,' he replied — 6 Paradise Opened 
to Philagio, in a Hundred Devotions to the Mother 
of God, easily practised ' 

" ' Indeed, father ! and is each of these easy devo- 
tions a -sufficient passport to heaven ? ' 

" 6 It is/ returned he, 6 Listen to what follows : 
" The devotions to the mother of God, which you will 
find in this book, are so many celestial keys, which will 
open wide to you the gates of paradise, provided you 
practise them ; " and accordingly, he says at the con- 
clusion, " that he is satisfied if you practise only one 
of them/ ,, 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



" ' Pray, then, father, do teach me one of the easiest 
of them/ 

" ' They are all easy,' he replied ; ' for example — • 
" Saluting the Holy Virgin when you happen to meet 
her image — saying the little chaplet of the pleasures of 
the Virgin — fervently pronouncing the name of Mary — 
commissioning the angels to bow to her for us — wish- 
ing to build her as many churches as all the monarchs 
on earth have done — bidding her good-morrow every 
morning, and good-night in the evening — saying the 
Ave Maria every day in honour of the heart of Mary" 
— which last devotion, he says, possesses the additional 
virtue of securing us the heart of the Virgin.' 

" 6 But, father/ said I, 6 only provided we give her 
our own in return, I presume ? ' 

" ' That/ he replied, 6 is not absolutely necessary, 
when a person is too much attached to the world. 
Hear Father Barry : " Heart for heart would, no doubt, 
be highly proper; but yours is rather too much at- 
tached to the world, too much bound up in the crea- 
ture, so that I dare not advise you to offer, at present, 
that poor little slave which you call your heart/' 
And so he contents himself with the Ave Maria which 
he had prescribed/ * 

" ' Why, this is extremely easy work,' said I, ' and 
I should really think that nobody will be damned after 
that/ 

" ' Alas! ' said the monk, tf I see you have no idea of 
the hardness of some people's hearts. There are some, 
sir, who would never engage to repeat, every day, 
even these simple words, Good day, Good eveniny, just 
because such a practice would require some exertion 
of memory. And, accordingly, it became necessary for 
Father Barry to furnish them with expedients still 
easier, such as wearing a chaplet night and day on 
the arm, in the form of a bracelet, or carrying about 

* " These are the devotions presented at pp. 33, 59, 145 150, 172, 
258, 420 of the first edition." 



MORAL CODE OF THE JESUITS. 



249 



one's person a rosary, or an image of the Virgin. 
" And, tell me now," as Father Barry says, " if I 
have not provided you with easy devotions to obtain 
the good graces of Mary?" ' 

" 6 Extremely easy, indeed, father,' I observed. 

" ' Yes/ he said, ' it is as much as could possibly be 
done, and I think should be quite satisfactory. For 
he must be a wretched creature indeed, who would not 
spare a single moment in all his lifetime to put a chap- 
let on his arm, or a rosary in his pocket, and thus 
secure his salvation ; and that, too, with so much cer- 
tainty, that none who have tried the experiment have 
ever found it to fail, in whatever way they may have 
lived; though, let me add, we exhort people not to 
omit holy living. Let me refer you to the example of 
this, given at page 34; it is that of a female who, 
while she practised daily the devotion of saluting the 
images of the Virgin, spent all her days in mortal sin, 
and yet was saved after all, by the merit of that single 
devotion.' 

" ' And how so ? ' cried I. 

" ' Our Saviour,' he replied, ' raised her up again, 
for the very purpose of shewing it. So certain it is, 
that none can perish who practise any one of these 
devotions.' " * 

We may, perhaps, mention here also, the greatest 
of all the Jesuitical devotions to Mary, the one which, 
according to them, is the sovereign specific for 
obtaining salvation — namely, the month of Mary. 

The month which they have chosen to consecrate 
to the Virgin is the month of May. I dare not say 
for what reason. During its long thirty-one days, 
nothing is to be heard but songs and hymns in honour 
of the Virgin. Altars are dressed before every niche 
in which stands a Madonna. Sundry other images 
are placed around it — as smaller divinities, we may 
suppose — and, among images and burning lamps, 
* Pascal, pp. 176-178. 



250 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



a profusion of flowers of all colours send up their 
fragrant perfume as an offering to the Virgin. At 
different hours the devotees prostrate themselves 
before these altars, and offer their vows and their 
prayers to the Madonna. The most extravagant 
language is addressed to her, and she is represented 
as possessing the most extraordinary attributes " Any 
person performing the month of Mary, should he die 
within the month, will be saved, even if he had 
murdered his parents.' 5 In the churches and schools 
of the Jesuits are performed the same ceremonies as 
in the streets. God for this month is still more 
forgotten than He generally is. 

We could fill volumes with such extracts, but must 
be content with those we have given, referring such of 
our readers as wish to know more of the Jesuitical 
doctrines to Pascal, to the Morale Pratique des Jesuites 
by Arnauld, and to the Principles of the Jesuits, de- 
veloped in a Collection of Extracts from their own 
Authors (London, 1839). 

We have also shrunk from polluting these pages by 
extracts from Lacrois, Sanchez, and such like, whose 
obscene and revolting lucubrations, the inevitable 
fruits of the celibacy of the cloister, have left far 
behind all that has been conceived by the most wanton 
and depraved imagination. We have omitted, more- 
over, to extract from the Secreta Monita, and for the 
following reason : — The Secreta Monita are a collection 
of precepts and instructions the most nefarious and 
diabolical, given, it is supposed, by the General of the 
order to his subalterns, as if to shew them the way 
how to proceed in all their perfidious plots for the 
aggrandisement of the Company. The book in which 
those precepts are collected, came out for the first time 
in Cracow in 1612, and was reprinted in Paris in 
1761. The Jesuits assert that it owes its origin to 
an expelled Jesuit. Zaorowski, while their opponents 
contend that the Secreta Monita had been found by 



MORAL CODE OF THE JESUITS. 



251 



Christian of Brunswick in the Jesuit college of Prague 
or elsewhere. The Secreta Monita were condemned at 
Rome. But, to confess the truth, our opinion is, that 
the book is at best apocryphal. The J esuits were too 
cunning foxes to expose their secrets to the risk of 
being discovered, by leaving copies of such a book 
here and there. They were not yet so firmly esta- 
blished as to risk the very existence of their order, if 
one of those copies were discovered, or if a member 
should be tempted to betray the Society. Besides, 
from the knowledge we have of the Jesuitical cha- 
racter, we feel assured that no superior would ever 
have inculcated with such barefaced impudence such 
abominable and execrable rules of roguery. So much 
are the Jesuits accustomed to dissemble and deceive, 
that even their conduct towards each other is one con- 
tinued act of deceit. For instance, if the superior 
wishes to ruin the fair fame of a man adverse to the 
order, he will say to his subalterns, " What a pity it 
is that Mr N. should be guilty of such and such faults 
(and, generally speaking, he invents some calumny) ! it 
would be well that, for the greater glory of God, others 
should be apprised that it is unbecoming a Christian to 
act so. Should you chance to meet any of his or your 
acquaintance, you may warn them of that, but take 
care not to slander your neighbour's reputation." 
Again, if a Jesuit chief should covet the wealth of 
some family, he would say to his subordinates, " It is a 
pity that so much wealth should pass into the hands of 
his son or nephew, who will spend it in offending God 
and gratifying their own evil passions. It would be a 
pious work if he could be induced to leave it to us, that 
we might use it to the greater glory of God." And if a 
subaltern, less cunning than the rest, should openly and 
frankly propose to slander the reputation of the honest 
man, or to make an attempt to snatch the princely 
fortune of the wealthy, he would be reprimanded, as 
guilty of an action unworthy of a son of the holy Father 



252 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



Loyola. And, while the superior speaks in this man- 
ner, he not only knows that he cants, but he is also per- 
fectly convinced that his hearers know it, and yet he 
will never speak otherwise. And it is to us altogether 
inconceivable, that men who are thus mutually conscious 
that they are playing a part — who, in their common 
intercourse, and even when forming the basest designs, 
are careful always to speak in the character of the 
pious devotee — should so far forget their cue as to give 
a broad unvarnished statement of their whole system 
of roguery. For these, and many other reasons which 
we might adduce, we believe that the book is apocry- 
phal ; but, though apocryphal, it certainly gives a true 
representation of the horrible arts and practices of the 
Jesuits ; and we are inclined to credit the Jesuits 
when they assert that the book is the work of a dis- 
carded brother, so deeply does it initiate us in the secret 
arts of the Society. However, as we have thousands 
of unimpugnable testimonies to their impious and in- 
fernal doctrines, we shall not weaken the authority of 
our narrative by adducing contested proofs. 



OVERGROWING INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIETY. 



253 



CHAPTER XII. 

1608-1700. 

OVERGROWING INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIETY. 

We now enter on a new phase of our history. Up to 
the period at which we are arrived (the beginning of 
the seventeenth century), the Jesuits have been obliged 
more or less to struggle for existence. Now they contend 
for supremacy and a domineering power in those same 
countries into which they had been at first refused 
admittance. Vagrant monks, who had but an hospital 
for a place of refuge, they now possess all over the 
surface of the earth hundreds of magnificent establish- 
ments, endowed with princely revenues, and in the 
West Indies are laying the foundations of a kingdom 
of their own. Cherished by the populace, in league 
with the nobility, they are become so powerful, that 
great monarchs themselves are obliged to put the fate 
of the Jesuits in the same balance in which are weighed 
the destinies of nations. Two of Ignatius' disciples 
have a seat in the College of Cardinals, and the order, 
by the many exorbitant privileges it has obtained, 
forms a sort of separate church within the Church — the 
envy of other religious orders, the rival of bishops, and 
the dread of the Court of Rome itself. They possess 
the supreme sway in Portugal, Poland, Bavaria, have 
the utmost influence in Spain, Austria, Italy, and are 
rapidly advancing towards that power which they at 
last obtained in France, and which was productive of so 
many miseries to the French nation. In fact, the princi- 



254 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



pal seat of the Jesuits' power will henceforthbe in France, 
as, of the many sovereigns whom the Jesuits more or 
less govern, the French monarch is the most powerful 
of them all. Henry IV., as a measure of precaution, 
in the letters-patent by which he re-established the 
Jesuits, had enacted that a man of authority in the 
order should always be near the king's person, as 
preacher, and as a warranty for the conduct of his 
brethren ; and the Jesuits made of this offensive clause 
the very pivot of their fortunes. The preacher became 
the confessor of the kings, and France will but too soon 
feel the persecuting power of Fathers Lachaise and Le- 
tellier. Before, however, they had attained the height 
of their power, they had to endure a passing storm. 
In 1610, Henry IV., while proceeding in his coach to 
visit his faithful Sully, who was dangerously ill, was 
stabbed to the heart. The Jesuits were accused by 
the parliament and the university, and even by some 
curates from the pulpit, of being the accomplices and 
the instigators of Ravaillac the assassin ; but no proof 
whatever was adduced in support of this accusation. 
Public opinion absolved them from any participation 
in the crime, and to that judgment we ourselves 
subscribe ; unless, indeed, we charge them with being 
morally accessory to the murder by their doctrines, and 
the abominable writings commending the murder of 
Sovening, with which they had covered France at 
the time of the League. The Jesuits had too great 
ascendancy over Henry's mind, they derived from 
him too many benefits, to render credible the supposi- 
tion of their connivance in the parricide. Some 
authors, too eager to find the Jesuits guilty of every 
crime, and not reflecting that by asserting controvert- 
ible facts they diminish the credit of their other asser- 
tions, have suggested that, as Henry was preparing 
to send an army to succour the German Protestants, 
the Jesuits contrived to have him murdered. But 
those authors are quite ignorant of the true spirit of 



OVERGROWING INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIETY. 255 

Jesuitism. The great end which the Jesuits have 
ever in their view, the criterion by which alone we 
are able to judge of the probability of -their acting in 
any particular way, is their own interest, and in no 
way the advantage of religion or the glory of God; 
and, as in this instance the interest of the Jesuits, and 
especially of those of France, was to preserve rather 
than destroy Henry's life, we repeat our assertion — 
we do not believe tliem guilty. We do not think it 
necessary to fill our pages even with an analysis of 
the writings poured forth by both parties on this 
tragic event. The Anti- Cotton, a virulent pamphlet 
against the Jesuits, and, above all, against some asser- 
tions of Father Cotton, the late king's confessor, who 
had addressed come apologetic letters to the queen on 
the subject, and who had now gone, according to 
Henry's testamentary disposition, to deposit that 
prince's heart in the Jesuits' college of La Fleche, was 
and has continued to be famous in France, more for 
the sarcastic wit with which it is written than because 
it gives any proofs of the Jesuits' guilt ; and, therefore, 
we need not give any account of it. 

The Jesuits, protected by the Court and the Arch- 
bishop of Paris, after the first commotion had passed 
away, reassumed their former position ; and Father 
Cotton was appointed to hear the juvenile sins of 
Louis XIII., as he had formerly heard those of his 
gallant and profligate father. 

But a real though inevitable calamity awaited the 
Society some few years after. On the 31st January 
1615, expired one of their greatest men, Claude 
Acquaviva, the fifth General of the order. He had 
been in office thirty-four years, and may be accounted 
the second founder of the Society, as he has been, un- 
doubtedly, its ablest legislator. During his govern- 
ment, external tempests and internal discord had 
menaced the very existence of the Society, but he 
had dissipated and appeased them all with admirable 



256 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



courage and prudence. His death was to the Com- 
pany an irreparable loss. With him ended the 
prestige through which the Generals exercised such 
extraordinary authority over its members. For the 
future they will still be entitled by the Constitutions 
to the same blind obedience as before ; but their man- 
dates will be implicitly obeyed by none but some 
simple-hearted Jesuits, or by those far away in dis- 
tant lands, who venerate their superior in proportion 
to the distance that separates them from him. And 
this it may be said is the case with all earthly 
powers. But the members who have some authority 
in the order, the provincials, the confessors or favour- 
rites of princes, will, generally speaking, act indepen- 
dently and according to their own views, without, how- 
ever, losing sight of the Society, whose aggrandisement 
and glory is always the ultimate end which they all 
keep in view. The consequence will be that their con- 
duct will in many respects be less uniform, and even their 
solemn assemblies will be wanting in that unanimity 
of purpose which had marked their former operations. 
A striking proof of this appeared in the election of 
Acquaviva's successor itself. The old Spanish party 
revived after the General's death, and hoping to re- 
gain the influence and power it had exercised under 
the first three Generals of the order, made a great 
stir ; and, foreseeing that Vitelleschi, a Roman Jesuit, 
would be elected, they first intrigued with the French 
and Spanish ambassadors, and afterwards accused 
Vitelleschi to the Pope of being guilty of many vices 
and crimes, which was far from being true, he being, 
on the contrary, a simple, inoffensive, unpretending 
man. The contest for the election was very keen, 
and of seventy-five members who composed the 
congregation, Vitelleschi obtained only thirty-nine 
suffrages, being only one more than was necessary 
for the validity of his election. He assumed the 
office, but exercised very little influence in the affairs 



OVERGROWING INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIETY. 257 

of the Company. It was, however, in the beginning 
of Vitelleschi's generalate that measures were taken 
to get Loyola and Xavier enrolled in the Calendar of 
Saints. It is true that, even under Acquaviva's life- 
time, Henry IV., to please his father confessor, and 
render him still more indulgent to his immoralities, 
had, by an autograph letter, asked the reigning Pope 
to find a place in heaven for the two founders of the 
order ; but Paul V., thinking, perhaps, that the recom- 
mendation of the ex-Huguenot Henry would be rather 
a suspicious passport for opening the gates of heaven, 
did not feel inclined to comply. There were, how- 
ever, other sovereigns, as those of Bavaria, Poland, 
Spain, &c, who had Jesuits for their confessors ; and 
now that those monarchs united in begging from the 
Holy See the canonisation of the two Jesuits, Gregory 
XV., who had been educated in the fathers' schools, 
could no longer refuse to comply with their wishes. 
He accordingly solemnly pronounced them to be saints, 
but being surprised by death, the glory of having 
issued the bull for their apotheosis belongs to his suc- 
cessor, Urban VIII.* 

As the Jesuits, in the short space of less than a 
century, have furnished eight or ten saints to the 
calendar, perhaps it will not be extraneous to our 
work to devote a few pages to shew in what manner, 
mortals such as we are, and who but yesterday were 
mere loathsome corpses, are, by the pretended power 
of another mortal man, transformed into privileged 
and divine brings, to whom is attributed a power 
almost equal to that of the Almighty. A word of any 
Pope, even of an Alexander VI., will change every 
fragment of those corrupted remains into sacred relics, 
possessing such miraculous powers, that the worship 

* Gregory XV. and his nephew Cardinal Ludivisi, have two magnifi- 
cent monuments in the Church of St Ignatius of the Collegio Romano, 
which church they had built and richly embellished for the J esuits, and 
where they are buried. 



258 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



of them is deemed sufficient to insure eternal salva- 
tion. 

The practice of investing certain persons with the 
honours of saint-ship originated with the people. In 
the early ages of Christianity, when an individual, 
whether a truly holy Christian or a consummate hy- 
pocrite, had struck the impressible imaginations of the 
multitude by a pious and extraordinary course of life, 
he was regarded by them as a supernatural being, and 
was addressed and worshipped as such. A little later, 
persons of this description began, with the help of the 
priests, to work miracles ; and when the renown of 
their holiness and of the prodigies they had performed 
had spread far and wide, the Court of Rome interfered 
and gave them a regular patent for saintship. 

If they had been extraordinary persons of their own 
class, their canonisation took place almost immediately 
on their decease, as was the case with St Francis, 
the founder of the ragged and beggarly order of monks 
which bears his name, and St Antony, the great miracle 
worker,* both of whom were ranked among the saints 
only a year after their death. The trade of saint- 
making proving very lucrative, from the many offer- 
ings presented at their shrines, the priests encouraged 
the multitude, always ready to believe in the marvel- 
lous, to credit extraordinary legends and to find saints 
everywhere. Above all, as we have said elsewhere, 
after the Reformation, the priests were creating saints 

* This man is famous for working miracles. He is said to have re- 
stored to life his dear companion, a pig, which had been stolen from him, 
after it had been killed and eaten, and its bones thrown into a furDace ; 
just as Thor, the great Scandinavian god, restored to life his ram. Ano- 
ther great miracle is recorded of him by his panegyrist. Having been 
forbidden by his superior (St Antony was a monk) to work too many 
miracles, he one day found himself in a great perplexity. As he was 
passing through a street, he heard a poor mason, in the act of falling 
from a lofty building, call upon him by name for a miracle. The poor- 
saint, not knowing what to do, had recourse to an expedient. " Stop a 
moment," said he, to the falling man, " till I go for the permission of 
th« Father Superior ;" and the man waited suspended in the air till he 
returned with permission to work the miracle ! 



OVERGROWING INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIETY. 259 



in such alarming numbers, that Urban VIII. fearing, 
it would seem, that heaven would not be large enough 
to admit the whole of them, by two bulls, of 1625 
and 1634, put a check upon the mania of saint- 
making, and swept away from churches, convents, and 
public places, the images of those poor blessed ones 
who had been patiently waiting in their niches for 
the supreme oracle of the Vatican to send them up to 
heaven ; and who, doubtless, were now much annoyed 
at being removed from their places of adoration and 
worship. The bull ordained that no offering, no burn- 
ing lamp, nor any sort of worship whatever, should be 
rendered to any one, no matter how great might have 
been the fame of his saintship, if he had not been re- 
cognised as a saint, either from immemorial time, im- 
memorabilem temporis cur sum, or by the unanimous 
consent of the Church, per communem Ecclesice con- 
sensura, or by a sort of tolerance of the apostolic see, 
tolerantid sedis apostolicce. By immemorial time, the 
Pope says in his bull of 1634 that he means more than 
a hundred years. In consequence, all those persons who 
had been called saints, and worshipped as such for only 
ninety-nine years and some months, were to be dis- 
carded, and their images or statues removed from the 
place of worship;* unless, indeed, some money were 
spent, and a privilege or. dispensation obtained from the 
all-powerful Pope. Alas ! how many sinners, who had 
perhaps chosen those very saints as mediators between 
them and an offended God, must have been driven to 
despair by the unmerciful bull ! 

However, a regular canonisation may be obtained 
from Pome, and in two different ways. The first is 
the more simple : — Whosoever is interested in obtaining 
a canonisation must prove before the Congregation of 

* This was the case with many, and, to mention one, with Father 
Zaccheria, the founder of the Barnabites, who had been a beatifice for 
eighty-four years, had mass and prayers offered to him, but is at present 
merely Father Zaccheria. 



260 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



the Rites,* that, for more than a hundred years, th3 
man who is proposed as a candidate for saintship ]w T 
been worshipped either by a burning lamp before his 
image or his sepulchre, or by a person praying before 
it, &c. ; and that these signs of veneration had been 
repeated before they had been prohibited at no greater 
distance of time than ten years. If the congregation de- 
liver their opinion in a dubious form, that the immemo- 
rial worship seems to them to be proved, videtur con- 
stare de cultu immemorabili ; and, if the omniscient 
and infallible Pope affirm, constare, " it has been 
proved," then the man becomes a beatifice, and mass, 
prayers, and offerings may be addressed to him with a 
perfectly safe conscience. This was the mode of canon- 
isation resorted to after the famous bull of 1634. 

More difficult is the other way, now generally fol- 
lowed, to obtain a canonisation. The man must pass 
through many stages — as it were, serve an apprentice- 
ship before he become a saint ; first, the name of Servus 
Dei, servant of God, must be obtained for the candi- 
date ; and that is neither difficult nor expensive. Then, if 
the Congregation of Rites find, on examining his printed 
life, that his virtues seem to be proved, videtur con- 
stare de virtutibus, and the Pope says, constare, the 
Servus Dei is to be called venerabilis Servus Dei, 
venerable servant of God. Again, if the authenticity 
of the life, and of the virtues and miracles, is proved in 
another congregation, in the same way, then the vene- 
rabilis servus Dei assumes the title of blessed, beatus; 
a feast, mass, prayers, &c, are voted to him, and 
the Pope goes to St Peter's Church, to be the first of 
all to worship that same man who, had he pronounced 

* This congregation, as well as all the others, snch as those of indul- 
gences, of inquisition, &c, is composed of cardinals, bishops, prelates, 
and some few advocates. They form a sort of committee. There is a 
prefect and secretary ; the others are called consultori, counsellors — 
the Pope is de jure prefect of them all. Those of the Congregation of 
Rites are very glad when there is a canonisation. They are entitled, be- 
sides, to a portrait of the saint, which, if the saint take, they sell very 
dear, and to I know not how many pounds of chocolate. 



OVERGROWING INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIETY. 261 

■ t only those two words, non constare, would have been 
a Pagan, or little better. That the blessed {beato) 
should become a saint, nothing more is necessary than 
that he should have worked three first-class miracles * 
(such as those performed by St Anthony, I suppose), 
and that there should be paid (not by the blessed — 
beato — for the offerings are only shewn to him, but by 
whosoever would make a saint of him) twenty thousand 
pounds sterling for the diploma. As may be perceived, 
the degree is somewhat dearer than in any other uni- 
versity ; but only consider the difference betwixt a doctor 
and a saint !f However, as the expenses are too great, 
families or religious communities who wish for a saint, 
now unite together, each proposing a candidate for 
saintship, and a single proceeding serves to decide the 
fate of five or six saints, and the expenses are paid in 
common. Under the last Pope, Rome witnessed two 
or three of those wholesale canonisations. 

We Italians call the proceeding, fare una infornata 
di Santi, making an ovenful of saints. But under the 
reign of Leo XII., in 1826, a much more scandalous 
profanation took place. Saints being wanted by some 
town or other (almost every Italian borough has got 
one), and the Congregation of Relics, who dispense 
those Beati, having none at hand, one of the counsel- 
lors, we suppose, thought of a very expeditious way 
of making saints, and supply what was wanted. A 
sort of catacomb having been discovered at the church 
S. Lorenzo fuor delle mura, in which some skulls were 
found, five of them were extracted, and declared to be 

* For Loyola's sake we should have liked that one of the three first-class 
miracles, recorded in the bull of canonisation, should have been a little 
more supernatural, and a little more decent, perhaps. It is said in the 
bull, that a woman of Grandia, being dropsical, applied to the part af- 
fected the image of the saint, and was cured, imagine dicti beati ventri 
admota, &c. 

f The saying of one of the descendants of Charles Borromeo has remained 
famous in Italy. After having paid all the expenses of the canonisation, 
lie turned to his family and said, " Be always good Christians, my dear 
children, but never saints ; one other saint, and we are ruined for ever." 

S 



262 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



the skulls of martyrs. The Pope, with the advice of 
the Congregation of Rites, by his apostolic authority 
and certain knowledge, Apostolicd auctoritate ac certd 
scientid, declared that they were martyrs ; and, two 
or three months after, they were exposed to the public 
worship in the Apollinare, the ancient Collegio Ger- 
manico, which had belonged to the Jesuits, and where 
now met the Congregation of the Relics. I have my- 
self seen them thus exposed. Those having been dis- 
posed of, other skulls were dug up, and other martyrs 
made ; till, at last, a learned antiquarian (I do not 
remember whether French or German) proved almost 
to a certainty that the place where these skulls were 
found had been a Pagan burial-place. The noise was 
great, and so great the scandal, that the Pope ordered 
the catacomb to be shut, and no more martyrs to be 
made. One may still see the excavation, and some 
bones may be seen through an iron grating, but they 
are called martyrs no more. If these were not facts 
which happened in our own days, and of which all 
Rome is witness, I would hardly have dared to men- 
tion them, so incredible do they appear. 

We hope we shall be excused for this digression. 
The canonisation of Loyola and Xavier took place in 
1623. We shall spare the recital of all the feasts, all 
the gorgeous ceremonies, all the pagan pageantry 
exhibited on the occasion. At Douay, above all, the 
whole of this theatrical representation was on a great 
and magnificent scale. Two galleries, supported by a 
hundred columns adorned with tapestry, and with no 
less than four hundred and forty-five paintings, were 
erected in the two streets leading to their college. 
The panegyrics in honour of the saints were not only 
ridiculous, but impious in the highest degree. In one 
of them it was said that "Ignatius," by his name 
written upon paper, " performed more miracles than 
Moses, and as many as the apostles!" And again, 
" The life of Ignatius was so holy and exalted, even in 



OVERGROWING INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIETY. 263 

the opinion of heaven, that only Popes like St Peter, 
empresses like the Mother of Grod, some other 
sovereign monarchs, as God the Father and his holy 
Son, enjoyed the bliss of seeing him." We do not 
comment on these words ; even the Sorbonne, now in 
league with the Jesuits, condemned them. 

Some years after, another extraordinary and fan- 
tastic solemnity came to rejoice the Jesuitic world. 
From the year 1636, Vitellesehi had ordered that 
preparations should be made to solemnise, in 1640, 
the secular year of the establishment of the Society. 
We shall not give any description of it, but must 
mention a strange publication, which has given to this 
feast an historical celebrity ; we mean the Imago 
Primi Sceculi Societatis Jesu, It is a huge folio of 
952 pages, richly and superbly printed, embellished 
by hundreds of fantastic and extravagant emblems, 
and filled with absurd and ridiculous praises of the 
Society. Many were the contributors to this work, 
which was printed at Antwerp. " Many young 
Jesuits," says Cretineau,* " found in the aspirations of 
their hearts poetical inspiration, accents of love, and 
words of enthusiasm !" The book is modestly dedica- 
ted to — God the Father ; and among the poetical inspira- 
tions, we read as follows : — " The Society of Jesus is 
not of man's invention, but it proceeded from Him 
whose name it bears, for Jesus himself described 
that rule of life which the Society follows, first by 
his example, and afterwards by his Word."f And 
further on, — " The Company is Israel's chariot of 
fire, whose loss Elisha mourned, and which now, by 
a special grace of God, both worlds rejoice to see 
brought back from heaven to earth, in the desperate 
condition of the Church. In this chariot, if you seek 
the armies and soldiers by which she daily multiplies 
her triumphs with new victories, you will find — (and I 
hope you will take it in good part) — you will find a 

* Vol. iii. p. 471. t S. i. c. iii. p; 64. 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



chosen troop of angels who exhibit under the form of 
animals all that the Supreme Ruler desires in this 
chivalry." * 

"As the angels, enlightened by the splendours of 
God, purge our minds of ignorance, suffuse them with 
light, and give them perfection, — thus the companions 
of Jesus, copying the purity of angels, and all attached 
to their origin which is God, from whom they derive 
those fiery and flaming movements of virtue, with 
rays the most refulgent, putting off the impurities of 
lust in that furnace of supreme and chastest love in 
which they are cooked (eascoquuntur), until being 
illuminated and made perfect, they can impart to 
others their light mingled with ardour — being not 
less illustrious for the splendour of their virtue than 
the fervour of charity with which they are divinely 
inflamed. 

" They are angels like Michael in their most eloquent 
battles with heretics — like Gabriel in the conversion 
of the infidels in India, Ethiopia, Japan, and the 
Chinese hedged in by terrible ramparts, — they are 
like Raphael in the consolation of souls, and the con- 
version of sinners by sermons and the confessional. 
All rush with promptitude and ardour to hear confes- 
sions, to catechise the poor and children, as well as to 
govern the consciences of the great and princes ; all 
are not less illustrious for their doctrine and wisdom : 
so that we may say of the Company what Seneca ob- 
serves in his 33d epistle, namely, that there is an in- 
equality in which eminent things become remarkable, 
but that we do not admire a tree when all the others 
of the same forest are equally high. Truly, in what- 
ever direction you cast your eyes, you will discover 
some object that would be supereminent if the same 
were not surrounded by equals in eminence." f 

These quotations may suffice to give the reader an 
idea of the book. It will, however, be instructive to 

* S. Mi p. 401. f Ibid. 402. 



OVERGROWING INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIETY. 265 

give the opinion of Cretineau upon it. He calls the 
work, indeed, a dithyrambic, and admits that there 
are some exaggerations in those academical exercises 
(he might as well have said that even the Court of 
Rome condemned the book); " but," adds he, " the 
critics would not recollect the extravagances, the im- 
pieties even, of the book entitled Conformity of the 
Life of St Francis ivith that of Christ, by brother 
Bartholomew of Pisa, nor the Origo Seraficce Familice 
Franciscance by the Capuchin Gonzalez;" and so 
on. Indeed we know that other monks are as boast- 
ful, as impudent, as impious as the Jesuits; yet it 
seems a very poor apology to exculpate one's own faults 
by proving that our neighbour has committed similar 
ones. But so it is, we repeat it again, the Jesuits 
would inculpate God himself to justify their order. 
All we can say of the book is, that it is a most in- 
genuous and sincere exposition of the feelings of the 
Jesuits at such epochs, and of the opinion they had of 
themselves. They were at the height of their pro- 
sperity. The difficulties they had encountered — the 
battles they had fought- — the victories they had ob- 
tained — the consciousness of their own strength and 
power, all combined to make them believe that their 
ambition had to recognise no limits short of the 
absolute dominion of the world. This idea is clearly 
expressed in every page of the Imago; and they 
struggled hard to realise it. Had the Jesuits united 
to this consciousness, and to the superlative force of 
will and perseverance which is characteristic of their 
order, the conception of some great and magnani- 
mous object, which drew upon itself the interest and 
admiration of the multitude ; and had they by bold 
and unequivocal conduct contrived to carry into exe- 
cution the lofty design, — who knows what might have 
not been accomplished by a society so strongly and so 
admirably constituted I Such as they were, however, 
their influence became greater and greater every day* 



266 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



As when of two royal pretenders to a noble kingdom, 
the conqueror sees the crowd of his courtiers increased, 
not only by all those prudent persons who had waited 
for the result of the contest, but by a part of his 
former adversaries, now the most submissive and 
humble of all his flatterers ; so the Jesuits, after they 
had mastered all opposition, and were in possession of 
power, saw themselves surrounded by a multitude 
of adherents and courtiers, eager to obtain their all- 
powerful influence. When to be a Jesuit became an 
honour, and the shortest way to ecclesiastical and 
secular dignities, persons of every sort, and especially 
such as were ambitious, resorted to the Society, to 
find the means of satisfying their several aspirations. 
Before Vitelleschi, the nobility had protected the 
Jesuits, but few of them had embraced the institute ; 
but afterwards, the highest families in Europe, princely 
houses not excepted, had a representative in the Com- 
pany, who gave to the order a new prestige, and im- 
parted to it the love and veneration with which his 
name was regarded by the people. The houses of 
Lorraine, Montmorency, those of Gonzaga and 
Orsini, Medina-Sidonia and Abouquerque, Limberg, 
and Cassimir of Poland, and a thousand other great 
and illustrious families, respectively contributed mem- 
bers to the order of the Jesuits. 

Our space will not allow us to enter into details, 
and to follow the Jesuits step by step in their pros- 
perous course. Let it suffice that we have shewn how 
the Society developed itself by degrees, and by what 
means it arrived at the pinnacle of power and great- 
ness. We shall now proceed to shew, in its principal 
facts, what use the Jesuits made of their ill-gotten 
influence. 

As we have already said, France was now the chief 
seat of their power, and the field where they reaped 
their laurels. Under Louis XIII., or, to speak more 
correctly, under Richelieu, they could not pretend to a 



OVERGROWING INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIETY. 267 



great share of authority. The despotic cardinal will 
only have them as his tools. He will protect them ; 
he will go with his royal slave to lay the first stone 
of a Jesuit edifice in a faubourg of Paris (St An- 
toine), but he will cause to be condemned and burnt 
by the hands of the hangman, the books of Keller and 
Santarelli, that exalt the papal above the royal autho- 
rity, which Richelieu considered his own. Cardinal 
Mazzarini was as little disposed as his predecessor to 
tolerate any rival domineering influence ; and during 
his administration, the Jesuits had no considerable 
part in the public affairs. If Mazzarini shewed them 
some kindness, and afforded them his protection, it 
was because he wanted their support in opposition to 
the Jansenists, the partisans of the Cardinal of Metz, 
Archbishop of Paris, and Mazzarini's rival in power 
and in gallant intrigues. But when Louis XIV., oa 
reaching his twentieth year, assumed the government 
of his kingdom, then really began the reign of the 
Jesuits. Not that the man who entered the Par- 
liament in his hunting apparel, with his whip in his 
hand, and was accustomed to say, L'etat c'est moi, 
was much disposed to act by the advice and under 
the influence of other persons ; yet the Jesuits had a 
great share in all the great events of his reign. 

Louis had a Jesuit confessor from his childhood,* 
who, by insidious and daily-repeated insinuations, had 
rendered him a fanatical bigot, and made him believe 
that the greatest glory he could achieve would be the 
upholding of the Popish religion. In this point, as in- 
deed in many others, Louis bears a resemblance to 
Philip II. of Spain. Both gloried in the appellation of 
champions of Popery, both had its persecuting spirit, 
both sacrificed the love of their people to the wish to 
appear most zealous Romanists ; yet both, despotic and 

* Roman Catholics consider it their duty to send children to the con- 
fessional at the early age of seven years ; and nine out of ten hear for the 
first time, from the confessor, words which awaken in their young and 
innocent minds lascivious and till then unknown desires. 



268 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



jealous of their royal prerogative, waged war against 
their god on earth when he attempted to impugn it. 
Philip sent Alva, who, having conquered the Papal 
troops, entered Rome, and obliged the Pope to sub- 
scribe his master's conditions ; while Louis took posses- 
sion of Avignon, threw the Papal nuncio into prison, 
and obliged every member of the French clergy to 
subscribe the four articles of the Gallican Church, 
expressly got up against the pretensions of Rome. 
With such a man as Louis, the Jesuits could not succeed 
in gaining their ends but by the most complete sub- 
jection to his orders or caprices. So, accommodating 
themselves at once to the prince's character, there was 
no mark of devotion and servility which they did not 
shew to him. They supported him in his schism 
against the Pope, subscribed the articles of the Galli- 
can Church, and refused to publish the bull of excom- 
munication the former had fulminated against the first- 
born of the Church of Rome,* persuading him, how- 
ever, that he would always remain a good Roman 
Catholic while they confessed and absolved him. They 
praised him for his military achievements, and en- 
couraged him in his profligacy, taking great care to 
abandon the former mistress the moment they saw the 
inclination of the prince directed towards a new one. 
For these criminal compliances, they obtained, in 
exchange, full liberty to persecute the Jansenists and 
Protestants to their hearts' content. 

The Jansenists were the first who experienced the 
vindictive hatred of the progeny of Loyola ; not 
because they were considered more dangerous heretics 
than the Huguenots, but because they had dared to 
attack the Order openly ; because the Provincial 
Letters had covered it with shame and confusion, and 
because the most considerable among them were re- 
lated to that Arnauld who first opposed its establish- 
ment in France, and declared its members to be the 

* Cret. vol. iv. p. 366. 



OVERGROWING INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIETY. 269 



accomplices of the crime of Jacques Clement. We 
insist upon that point, because it shews one of the most 
prominent characteristics of Jesuitism, never to forgive 
an injury, and to persecute the remotest descendants 
for the offences they may have received from their 
ancestors. 

It would require volumes to relate all the persecu- 
tions to which the inhabitants of Port-Royal were 
subjected. Hardly had Louis assumed the reins of 
government than, at the instigation of the J esuits, he 
convened an assembly of bishops, and declared his in- 
tention to extirpate the Jansenists. The crafty and 
unscrupulous De Marca, Archbishop of Toulouse, pre- 
pared a formula to the following effect : — 

" I sincerely submit to the Constitution of Pope 
Innocent X., of May 31, 1653, according to its 
true sense, as defined by the Constitution of our holy 
Father, Pope Alexander VII., of October 16, 1656* 
I acknowledge myself bound in conscience to obey this 
Constitution, and I condemn, from my heart and with 
my mouth, the doctrine of the five propositions of 
Cornelius Jansenius, which are contained in the book 
of Augustinus, which both the popes and the bishops 
have condemned ; and the doctrine of St Augustine is 
not that which Jansenius has falsely set forth, and 
contrary to the true sense of the holy doctor." All 
the clergy, and all persons who were in any way 
engaged in the tuition of youth, were required to 
subscribe this formula, and the most severe perse- 
cution awaited those who refused to do so. Neither 
the pure and uncontaminated life of those nuns of 
whom Bossuet himself said that they were " as pure as- 
angels," nor the learning, the piety, the ^austere and 
exemplary conduct of De Lacy, Arnauld, Nicole, and 
a hundred others, were a sufficient protection against 

* This is the hull by which the Pope declared that the five proposi- 
tions were to be found in Jansenius ; and this gave rise to the celebrated 
distinction o£fact and right* 



270 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 

the persecuting spirit of the Jesuits. Those noble and 
magnanimous men were dragged from their peaceable 
retreat, and sent to pine away their lives either in 
foreign lands or in the dungeons of the Bastille, of 
which the very passages were crowded with prisoners. 
Yet the noble resistance of the nuns could not be 
overcome, and the persecutors could only have amends 
of Port-Royal by levelling it to the ground. 

Fiercer and more sanguinary was the persecution 
exercised upon the Huguenots, who were very numer- 
ous in France at this epoch. Henry IV., after his 
cowardly apostasy, in order to pacify and calm his 
Calvinist subjects, had, in 1598, by an edict dated 
from Nantes, the principal town of Brittany, insured 
to them the free exercise of their religion ; leaving in 
their hands some strong places as a warranty. This 
edict had afterwards been disregarded by the French 
Government on many occasions, and Richelieu almost 
hazarded the throne in reducing Rochelle, the strong- 
hold of the Calvinists; yet no sanguinary measures 
were resorted to, from purely religious motives, and 
the Huguenots lived, we may say, almost unmolested. 
But after 1660, numberless and incessant petty perse- 
cutions, or tracasseries, must have made those Protes- 
tants aware of their impending ruin. The Jesuit La- 
chaise was the principal instrument of all the cruelties 
exercised afterwards upon them. This Lachaise was 
a relation of the famous Father Cotton, and confessor 
to the king. He was the very personification of 
Jesuitism — handsome, polite, courteous, pleasing in his 
manners, it seemed as if his whole care were directed 
to captivate the love of all sorts of persons ; he was 
never heard to utter a word of dissatisfaction against any 
one. S. Simon says of him, " II etvatfort Jesaite — but 
polite, and without rage ; 99 and Duclos affirms that " he 
knew how to irritate or calm the conscience of his peni- 
tents always with a view to his own interests;" and that, 
" though he had been a fierce persecutor of every 



OVERGROWING- INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIETY. 271 

party opposed to his own, he always spoke of them 
! with great moderation." He became the king's con- 
j fessor in 1675, and, by the most skilful and adroit 
J flattery, acquired a great ascendancy over him. But 
j do not imagine that he forgot his Jesuitical cunning. 

The profligacy and the continual state of adultery in 
j which Louis lived was too great a scandal to be over- 
j looked by such a pious man as Lachaise pretended to 
| be. Sometimes he got angry with his royal penitent, 
[ and denied him absolution. "The solemnity of 
Easter" (the time in which the confession is obliga- 
j tory), says S. Simon, "gave him the political colic dur- 
I ing the king's passion for Madame de Montespan; " and 
Cretineau says that " he would not absolve the king, 
but sent him another Jesuit, who bravely absolved 
him." Such was the man who undertook to extirpate 
the Huguenots. 

In 1685 appeared the proclamation which recalled 
the Edict of Nantes, La revocation de Vedit de 
Nantes, and from that moment the poor Calvinists 
were consigned to the tender mercies of the ferocious 
Jesuits, who, with the help of the dragoons and the 
lowest of the populace, renewed the horrible scenes 
of St Bartholomew, carrying the rage of fanaticism 
and revenge so far as to exhume the buried bodies of 
the murdered victims, and throw them into the 
common sewers. How many thousand industrious 
families were driven naked and penniless into foreign 
lands ! how many children were made orphans ! how 
many decrepid old men were left without a child or 
descendant to close their eyes ! Alas ! let us draw a 
veil over the infernal saturnalia. 

Lachaise became now a most important personage 
of the court of Louis. The king had built for this 
monk — who, though he made a vow of poverty, never 
travelled but in a coach and six — a magnificent house 
surrounded by a garden,* where the humble disciple of 
«* The place was called Mont Louis, but was afterwards converted into 



272 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



Loyola received his courtiers and flatterers, and 
where he freely distributed lettres de cachet* He 
was the arbiter between Fenelon and Bossuet, be- 
tween Montespan and Maintenon, between the sove- 
reign and his clergy. It was Lachaise who united 
by a secret marriage the great king and the gover- 
ness of his illegitimate children ; but Madame de 
Maintenon never forgave him that he had not obliged 
his royal penitent to acknowledge her publicly as his 
wedded queen. But all the influence he exercised 
was nothing compared to the exorbitant and almost 
royal power which he possessed as king's confessor. 
Lafeuille des benefices, that is, the right of disposing 
of all the livings of all the bishoprics in the kingdom, 
was attached to the office, f One may well imagine 
that Lachaise, who, as St Simon says, w&sfort Jesuite, 
was not very sparing in conferring rich benefices upon 
his own order. But a still greater advantage re- 
sulted to the Society from the subjection in which 
they held the French clergy, who, depending exclu- 
sively on a Jesuit for favours and advancement, re- 
nounced the opposition they had formerly shewn to 
the Company, and became the most humble and flatter- 
ing adherents of the fathers. Even the Sorbonne, 
that fiery opponent, became the supporter of the 
Society. 

To the pleasing and polite Lachaise, in 1709, sue- 

a magnificent and beautiful cemetery, which now bears the name of La- 
chaise. 

* A lettre de cachet was an order bearing the king's signature, 
generally requiring the arrest or exile of the person specified. Under 
the reign of the despotic Louis, lettres de cachet were issued with 
scandalous profusion. The courtiers, the ministers, the king's mistresses, 
asked, in exchange for a flattery or a caress, a lettre de cachet. Often 
the letter was blank, having only the king's signature, and left to the 
person who had obtained it to fill it up with any name and any sort of 
punishment he pleased. Father Lachaise had always by him a quantity 
of letters of this last sort. 

f In the first years of Louis's reign that right resided in a commission 
composed of two prelates and a Jesuit ; but Ferrier, Lachaise's prede- 
cessor, possessed himself of the exclusive right, which ever after belonged 
to the king's confessor. 



OVERGROWING INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIETY. 273 

ceeded as confessor the gloomy Letellier. He was 
cruel, ardent, and inflexible in his enmities, reserved, 
mysterious, and cunning in his dark projects,* conceal- 
ing always the violence of his passions under a cold 
and impassive exterior. His predecessor had left 
him little to do in the way of wholesale persecution 
and massacre. The Huguenots had been murdered 
by thousands, and three hundred thousand Calvinist 
families had fled from their unrelenting enemies. The 
Jansenists had been in part disbanded, and death had 
removed from the contest the Pascals, the Nicoles, the 

* Letellier was accused of being the contriver of the following shame- 
ful deception. In 1690, during a dispute, M. de Ligny, Professor of 
Moral Philosophy at the Royal College of Douay, fell out with Father 
Beckman, a Jesuit professor. Drawn to extremities in the argument, he 
menaced his opponent with revenge, saying, Ego te flagellabo — I will 
give you a whipping/' Fifteen days after, Ligny received a letter under 

the false signature of Antoine A ; that is, Antoine Arnauld, the famous 

Jansenist, with an address for the expected answer. Now, the professor, 
flattered by the honour of receiving a letter from so famous a man as 
Arnauld, replied to the letter, and continued the correspondence — so that 
at last the impostor, under the name of Arnauld, drew from Ligny the 
names of those who opposed the J esuits, all of them doctors and pro- 
fessors in theology. The impostor thereupon began and continued a 
correspondence with these doctors, who supposed they were writing to the 
true Arnauld, the staunch opponent of Jesuit doctrine. Ligny even begged 
the invisible Arnauld to be his spiritual director, and sent him a general 
confession of the state of his conscience. Thereupon he was induced to 
leave his chair, his benefice, and to send all his papers to the impostor, 
whilst he set out by the same command to a place appointed, which was 
Paris. He went to St Magloire, but found no Arnauld ; proceeded from 
place to place, until at last the simple Fleming found that he was duped. 
Meanwhile, however, all the professors before alluded to were denounced by 
the Jesuit Letellier, and exiled to various towns in France ; and Ligny him- 
self was sent to Tours. Meanwhile, the Jesuit published a letter directed 
to a doctor of Douay, under the title of Secrets of the party of M. Arnauld 
lately discovered. Then Arnauld, in his place of exile, discovering the 
cheat, published a first and second complaint, and a third, concluding 
one in answer to the Jesuit who had replied to his second. Every one 
was indignant, and even Louis XIV. himself. But the Jesuits assured 
him that they were innocent of the plot; and having obtained forgiveness 
for a supposed contriver, Tournelay, a doctor whom the Jesuits had 
named professor in the place of the expelled Gilbert, confessed that he 
had himself played the part of the false Arnauld, and the Jesuits were 
by this imposture exculpated from this act of perfidy. In the Gazette of 
Rotterdam, 1692, it is said, " But little esteem was felt for him 
(Tournelay) since it was discovered that he consented to pass for the 
father of the false Arnauld, to exculpate the Jesuits, and above all, 
author de Vaudripont, the man who had answered Arnauld's complaint, 
and who was supposed to act by Letellier's inspiration." 



274 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



De Lacys, and the whole of the Arnauld family. Only 
a few nuns, who could no more receive novices or pupils, 
and with whom, therefore, their order must necessarily 
be extinguished, remained in the monastery of Port- 
Royal for the ferocious Letellier. He sent thither a 
troop of rough and licentious soldiers, who dragged 
those delicate and feeble women from their abode, and 
conducted them prisoners as obstinate heretics, to be 
confined in different monasteries. Yet the dwelling 
which those sainted nuns had occupied, the church 
where they had worshipped the Lord, the tombs where 
many of them lay, and which they had sought in the 
hope to be delivered from their persecutors, and there 
to rest their wearied bodies in peace, still remained 
untouched. Letellier, to glut his revenge, turned his 
rage against their glorious monuments, had the mo- 
nastery and church pulled down ; and, violating with 
Vandalic ferocity the asylum of the dead, he caused 
the bodies to be exhumed and thrown together in a 
heap, to be devoured by the dogs, and had the plough 
driven over the sacred edifice.* 

After such examples as these, it is unnecessary to 
add more to shew the influence the Jesuits possessed 
in France, and the abominable use they made of it. 
We have gone beyond the epoch we have prefixed to 
this chapter, the facts we have last reported having 
occurred in 1709, 1711, and 1713. And we have 
done so, because these events mark the time from 
which the power of the Jesuits began in France to 
decline from its ascendancy. 

Let us now see what was the conduct and the 
influence of the Jesuits in other countries. 

In Spain, the affairs of the Order were in the most 
flourishing condition. Their revenues amounted to a 
very considerable sum. The authority they possessed 
was* almost unlimited. Philip III., who had loaded 
them with benefices, expired on the arm of a J esuit ; 
* See Edinburgh Review, vol. lxxiii. p. 361. 



OVERGROWING INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIETY. 275 

and hardly had Philip IV. taken the government into 
his own hands than he showered down upon the 
Society still greater favours than his predecessor.* 
He encouraged his subjects to build colleges for them; 
and many bishops and noblemen, to please the sove- 
reign, vied with each other in endowing the Society 
with richly provided establishments, and in investing 
them with all power and influence. But it seems that 
when the haughty and imperious Olivarez possessed 
himself of the supreme power, he ruled with such a 
despotic hand both king and kingdom, that very little 
share of authority or influence was left to the reverend 
fathers. Inde tree. The affront must be resented, and, 
although it was rather difficult to attack openly in 
Spain either the premier or the monarch, surrounded 
as he was by the devotion and the love of his subjects, 
yet the Jesuits were not the men to suffer patiently 
what they considered an injury. They then thought 
of snatching from the hands of Philip that same 
sceptre of Portugal which they had placed in the 
hands of his grandfather. They accordingly set 
themselves to work, and formed a conspiracy to 
transfer the crown to the head of the Duke of 
Braganza. The pulpit, the confessional, the congre- 
gations, were all made to subserve their designs ; 
and the minds of the people being sufficiently pre- 
pared, they caused the duke to repair to Evora. He 
took up his abode in the Jesuit college ; and when he 
descended into the church, thronged with people, 
Corea, a Jesuit father, addressing the duke from the 
pulpit, exclaimed, "I shall yet see upon your head 

the crown of glory, to which may the Lord call 

us all ! "f The church rung with plaudits at this well- 
managed reticence; and the mysterious prediction 
passed from the church to the street, and from thence 
throughout Portugal, to strengthen the hopes and in- 
flame the courage of the Portuguese, already impatient 
* Cret. vol. iii. p. 356. f Ibid. p. 363. 



276 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



to shake off the Spanish yoke. From that moment 
the conspiracy made rapid progress. The fathers pub- 
licly preached the revolt, without, however, altogether 
forgetting their Jesuitical duplicity. The provincial 
forbade all his subordinates to mix in political matters, 
and even imprisoned one of them for having from the 
pulpit too openly exhorted the citizens to rebel. But 
the greatest part of the fathers disregarded the order of 
their superior, who, nevertheless, except in the instance 
just mentioned, left tbem unpunished, and in the even- 
ing sat down with them at the same table as friendly 
as ever — a policy which, we must observe, was adopted 
by the fathers in all doubtful emergencies, in order 
that, on whichever side the scales declined, there might 
be a portion of the Jesuits claiming the merit of 
fidelity, and screening the others from the conqueror's 
resentment. 

Cretineau confesses frankly that the Jesuits had 
been the soul of the revolution, and says, " The 
Duchess of Braganza hoped to make her duke king, 
even against his own will ; but it was necessary to 
obtain the co-operation, or at least the neutrality, of 
the Jesuits." * The efforts of the Jesuits were 
crowned with success. In 1640 a revolution broke 
out at Lisbon, and was successful. "The house of 
Braganza did not forget what it owed to the Jesuits 
for the past and the present ; and wishing, through 
them, to make sure of the future, it awarded to them 
unlimited influence. The Jesuits were the first ambas- 
sadors of John IV." f After those very explicit 
words, let the Jesuits assert that they are a religious 
community, detached entirely from worldly interest, 
and merely occupied in the salvation of souls. It has 
been asserted that the Jesuits, besides being animated 
by hatred to Olivarez, were induced to co-operate in 
the revolution by the instigation and perhaps by the 
liberal promises of Richelieu, who, as everybody 

* Cret. vol. iii. p. 362. f Ibid. p. 3C3, 



OVERGROWING INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIETY. 277 

knows, was anxious by every possible means to harass 
and enfeeble the rival house of Austria. However this 
was, the Jesuits became the almost absolute masters 
of Portugal. Nothing was done without their consent. 
No minister would take any important step with- 
out first consulting the Jesuits and obtaining their 
permission. Lisbon became the seat of their extensive 
commercial operations, and the centre of their trade 
between Europe and the Indies ; and Ranke says that 
the Portuguese ambassadors were empowered to draw 
upon the Jesuits of Portugal for considerable sums. 
And, strange to say, they at the same time enjoyed 
some influence in Spain under Philip IV.; and this 
appears to have increased to such an extent under 
Charles II., that the testament by which this monarch 
named a grandson of Louis XIV. to the throne of 
Spain, was dictated, it is asserted, by the Jesuits. 

Here we are led to make a remark which will serve 
to illustrate the true spirit of Jesuitism. In the fifth 
general congregation was passed a decree forbidding 
all Jesuits to mix in any way in political or secular 
matters ; and by the eighty-fourth decree of the sixth 
general congregation, all operations which have any 
appearance of being commercial are strictly forbidden 
to the members of the Society. Notwithstanding 
these decrees, the Jesuits dispose of the destinies of 
kingdoms almost at their pleasure, and are the earliest 
bankers in Europe. The General, who is armed by 
the Constitution with almost unlimited powers to punish 
the infraction of his orders, and who can dismiss the 
delinquent at any time he chooses, not only remains 
silent when such transgressions are committed, but con- 
nives at, and even encourages them, by raising those 
members who are the most skilful in political affairs 
to the most important offices in the Society, and by 
himself using and disposing of that money which has 
been acquired by a manifest breach of the Constitution. 

For what purpose, then, those decrees, if they are 

T 



278 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



not to be observed ? What was the purpose contem- 
plated by their framers, we cannot say, but the use the 
Society makes of them is a very simple one. When 
they are accused of mixing in political matters or 
commercial speculations, they answer : " This cannot 
be ; the Constitutions or the decrees expressly forbid 
such things." Thus, for example, Cretineau, after 
mentioning the decree which forbids any sort of 
operation of a commercial nature, adds, i( This is the 
answer to the partial criticisms and interested injustice 
of those who will endeavour to attribute to the great 
work of the missions a sordid cupidity of lucre." * 
We admire the boldness, not to say the impudence, of 
this panegyrist of the Order. 

All throughout Germany the Jesuits spread desola- 
tion and misery whenever the cause of truth and free- 
dom was overcome by the superior material force of 
despotism and bigotry. " They were the most able 
.auxiliaries of Ferdinand in destroying the Protestants ; 
they were in the imperial cabinet, in his armies, among 
the defeated sectarians, and they even dared to pene- 
trate into the camp of the Lutherans "f (as spies, no 
doubt). The Jesuits had formed Tilly, Wallenstein, 
and Piccolomini, the three champions of the Catholic 
cause in the Thirty Years 5 War. 

" They (the Jesuits) accompanied the armies in their 
march, they followed them to the battle-field; and after 
the victory, they disputed with the Croats the fate of 
the prisoners of the day." J Such is the version of 
their historian. How far from the truth ! It is un- 
questionable that they had formed the three champions, 
and worthy of their masters did they prove by their 
spirit of revenge and persecution. But it is an impu- 
dent falsehood that the Jesuits interposed (as their 
calling made it their duty) betwixt the executioner and 
the victim, betwixt the sacred laws of humanity and 
the barbarous laws of war. No. On the contrary, 
* Cret. vol. ill p. 179. + Ibid. p. 388. $ Ibid. pp. 371, 372. 



YE R OR OWING INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIETY. 279 

they preached the extermination of the Protestants, 
and gave out that no work was so meritorious in tho 
eyes of God as to kill those accursed heretics. They 
did not calm, but rather excited, the ferocious passions 
of their pupils the generals, and, above all, of Tilly, 
over whom they possessed a very great influence. 
Once, after the battle of Strato, in Munster, I believe 
the voice of the Jesuits was added to that of the citizens 
in imploring mercy for some hundreds of unfortunate 
prisoners on the point of being mercilessly put to the 
sword; and this single and exceptional instance, 
whether the act of some human and compassionate 
persons, or of cunning rogues eager to win for the 
Order an unmerited reputation for clemency, is re- 
ported by the Jesuits as a general practice : while the 
many acts of brutal Vandalism and revenge perpetrated 
under their very eyes, and at their instigation, when 
they cannot be denied, are laid to the account of 
others. This is a historical truth. 

Nor were they disinterested persecutors. They 
fought here, as elsewhere, not for their faith or their 
Church, but for their idol — the Order. Let them 
speak for themselves : — " Corvin Gosiewsky, Palatine 
of Smolensk, met Gustavus Adolphus near the Duna- 
munde, defeated him, and, to consecrate the remem- 
brance of this day, he founded a Jesuit house in the 
town he had delivered. Every victory of that Pala- 
tine was for the Jesuits a new mission," * which means 
the erection of a new house or college. The greatest 
part of the properties of which the Protestants were 
iniquitously divested went to enrich the covetous and 
insatiable disciples of Loyola. The Pope, usurping 
the right of disposing of those properties, only because 
they had once belonged to the clergy, by a decree, 
ordered " that a part of the property which had been 
recovered be employed in erecting seminaries, board- 
ing-schools, and colleges, as well for the Jesuits who 

* Cret. vol. iii. p. 375. 



280 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



have been the principal authors of the imperial pro- 
clamation,* as for other religious orders ;"f which last 
clause was of course rendered illusory, the Jesuits pos- 
sessing themselves of whatever portion of those pro- 
perties was set apart for the aforesaid purpose of 
building houses and colleges. 

We have already seen what influence the Jesuits 
had acquired in Poland, under Sigismund III., in whose 
reign " a systematic war of popular riots, excited by 
the Jesuits or their tools, was begun against the Pro- 
testants.":]: In fact, their temples were overthrown, 
their burial-grounds profaned, their properties de- 
stroyed, their persons injured, and no redress what- 
ever was given or could be expected from judges and 
magistrates appointed at the recommendation of the 
Jesuits. Their pupils not unfrequently celebrated 
Ascension-day by assaulting those of the evangelical 
persuasion, breaking into their houses, plundering- 
and destroying their property. Woe to the Protes- 
tant whom they could seize in his house, or whom they 
even met on the streets on these occasions ! 

The evangelical church of Cracow was attacked in 
the year 1606, and in the following year the church 
was furiously stormed, the dead being torn from their 
graves ; in 1611, the church of the Protestants in 
Wilna shared the same fate, and its ministers were 
maltreated or murdered. In 1615, a book appeared 
in Posen, which maintained that the Protestants 
had no right to dwell in that city. In the follow- 
ing year, the pupils of the Jesuits destroyed the 
Bohemian church so completely, that they left 

* This proclamation was the decree by which the bigoted Ferdinand 
II., with revolting injustice, dispossessed legitimate holders of property 
which had belonged to religious communities, but which in great part had 
been allotted more than a hundred years before to those monks and 
priests who had embraced Protestantism, and which, passing through 
many hands to the persons then in possession, constituted the most 
legitimate property. 

f Cret. vol. iii. p. 390. 

$ Krasinski's Lectures on Slavonia, p. 321. 



OVERGROWING INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIETY. 281 

no stone remaining upon another, and the Lutheran 
church was burnt. The same things occurred 
in other places; and in some instances the Pro- 
testants were compelled by continual attacks to 
give up their churches. Nor did they long confine 
their assaults to the towns; the students of Cracow 
proceeded to burn the churches of the neighbouring 
districts. In Podlachia, an aged evangelical minister 
named Barkow was walking before his carriage, lean- 
ing on his staff, when a Polish nobleman approaching 
from the opposite direction, commanded his coachman 
to drive directly over him ; before the old man could 
move out of the way, he was struck down, and died 
from the injuries he received.* 

The University of Cracow, writing to that of Louvain, 
and referring to one of those expeditions against the 
Protestants, headed by Jesuits, in 1621, expresses it- 
self as follows : " The J esuits are very cunning, expert 
in a thousand artifices, and clever at feigning sim- 
plicity ; but they were the cause of much innocent 
blood being shed. The town (Cracow) was deluged 
with it. The fathers were never satiated with mur- 
ders, only the arms of those ruffians whom they em- 
ployed for their crimes were tired ; they were moved 
with compassion, and refused at last to proceed in the 
massacre."f Indeed, the fiery spirit of intolerance and 
bigotry which the Jesuits had diffused was so strong 
and universal, that even Wladislau, Sigismund's suc- 
cessor, notwithstanding all his efforts, could not arrest 
the religious persecution and protect his Protestant 
subjects from the sanguinary fury of the Papists. It 
is true that Sigismund, in following the Jesuits' direc- 
tions, and in attempting to re-introduce Romanism 
into all his dominions, had lost his hereditary kingdom 
of Sweden and the magnificent province of Livonia; 

* Ranke's History of the Popes, vol. ii. p. 161. 

+ Liters© Academise Cracoviensis ad Academiam Lovaniensem. 2 July 
1627. 



282 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



but that was nothing to the fathers. Protestantism 
was broken, their opponents were despised or sacri- 
ficed, their houses and colleges had received great 
additional revenues — what did they care for the losses 
of others? 

On the premature death of Wladislau, his brother 
Cassimir ascended the throne of Poland. He had 
been a Jesuit, and had sat in the College of Cardinals. 
The Pope, that he might assume the sceptre, had 
granted him a dispensation from all his vows. This 
Jesuit king, by his bad conduct and cowardice, very 
nigh lost his kingdom ; and when his subjects recovered 
it from the hand of the imperious Charles Gustavus, 
king of Sweden, he, in gratitude for that fidelity and 
gallantry, " committed himself and the kingdom to 
the care of the Virgin Mary, and vowed to convert 
the heretics ; " which meant, says Krasinski, to disperse 
and extirpate them. 

The Jesuits triumphed. We shall not follow those 
pitiless and relentless monks in all the iniquities they 
committed, in all the miseries they inflicted on poor 
Poland, which owes in great part to them the loss of 
her literature, of her glory, and, in part, of her 
national existence. 

Much has been said and written about the conver- 
sion to Komanism, by the Jesuits, of Christina, the 
daughter of the heroic Gustavus Adolphus, king of 
Sweden. But as this event did not produce any ma- 
terial change on that country, we shall be very brief 
in our account of it. No doubt, the Jesuits had a 
great share in bringing that capricious and haughty 
woman into the pale of the Roman Church. The sad 
glory belongs to Macedo, confessor to the Portuguese 
ambassador at the court of Sweden. He persuaded 
her to seek rest to her disquieted mind in the un- 
changed and unchangeable doctrines of Rome. By her 
order, Macedo went to Rome to ask the General of 
the Jesuits to send her some of the most trusted mem- 



OVERGROWING INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIETY. 283 

bers of the order.* Some time after, two very hand- 
some and young Italian noblemen, travelling, as they 
gave out, for their improvement, arrived at the Swed- 
ish court, and were introduced to the queen, and ad~ 
mitted to the royal table. In these two very pleasing 
young men were to be recognised two Jesuits, sent by 
the General ; and these, being admitted to secret in- 
terviews with the princess, achieved the work begun 
by Macedo. Christina, on her conversion, renounced 
the crown, and went to Rome to worship on his own 
pedestal of pride the idol which the bigoted Papists 
adore in the place of God the Lord. 

We must now return to examine the conduct of the 
Jesuits in England, and we could wish that we were 
spared the task ; for, in connexion with their plots 
and crimes, we shall have to speak of the shameful and 
unchristian proceedings of their opponents, which were 
such as we cannot think of without sadness, and which 
convey but a poor idea of the goodness of human na- 
ture when acting under the influence of exciting pas- 
sions. By the one party, the conception of a most 
abominable and infernal crime is extolled as a merito- 
rious and heroic action ; while the other, to punish the 
intended crime, violates the most sacred laws of justice 
and humanity. 

There is no event in the annals of any nation, the 
memory of which has been so carefully perpetuated 
as has been in England the gunpowder plot. It is 
the first page of the national history which is taught 
to children by its annual commemoration every fifth 
of November. We therefore shall relate of it only 
so much as is necessary to demonstrate the part in it 
that may be attributed to the Jesuits. Here, as in the 
affair of Campion, it is. rather difficult, amidst the many 
contradictory versions and documents, to arrive at a 
clear and satisfactory conclusion regarding the degree 
of culpability of the accused. We shall neither credit 

* Ranke, vol. ii. p. 362. 



284 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



the apologists of the Jesuits, Eudemon and Bellarmine,* 
nor Abbott's Antologia, and the assertions of James VI. 
himself, who, forgetting the dignity of a king, entered 
the lists to shew his pedantic learning and love of con- 
troversy. Instead of filling hundreds of pages with 
contradictory quotations, we shall frankly state the 
conclusions to which we have come after a careful 
examination of what has been written on the subject, f 
That the Jesuits were from first to last the con- 
trivers of all the machinations against Elizabeth and 
James, is an incontestable fact, and we have in part 
proved it. The notorious and unrelenting Parson, 
who, after he fled from England, became rector of the 
English college in Rome, and possessed very great 
influence at the Papal court, was the chief instigator 
of these plots. During Elizabeth's lifetime, he had 
had the idea of unceremoniously disposing of the 
English crown in favour of the Duke of Parma, 
or of Cardinal Farnese, his brother; a ridiculous 
and absurd project of a fanatic conspirator, which 
was ridiculed at the time, by Pasquino,t in these 
words : " If any man will buy the kingdom of 
England, let him repair to a merchant with a black 
square cap, in the city, and he shall have a very good 
pennyworth of it." § It was Parson, and his brethren 
the Jesuits, who obtained from Paul V., against the 
representation of Henry IV. of France, the bull which 

* This Bellarmine, as is known to many of our readers, was a famous 
Jesuit, a cardinal, and one of the most fanatic and bigoted in the order, 
celebrated above all for exalting the Papal authority above every other 
earthly power. He is the author of a catechism, which is still taught 
over all Italy, under the name of La Dottrina Cristiana de Bellarmino. 
He was very learned, and appears not to have been a bad man, as regards 
his outward conduct. 

f Jardine is, perhaps, the most impartial guide to follow in inquiring 
into this tragical event. 

X Pasquino and Marforio are, or at least were (only one of thein being 
now in existence), two statues placed at the corners of two contiguous 
streets in Rome, on which the Romans affix those libels in which they, 
generally speaking, express their hatred of the Roman court and its 
abominable vices. The statues are supposed to address one another. 

§ Butler, Mem. ii. 51. 



OVERGROWING INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIETY. 285 



forbade all the Roman Catholics to take the oath of 
allegiance, and which produced so many miseries. It 
was he, too, who constrained the Pope to disgrace the 
arch-priest Blackwell for having taken it, and who 
compelled the secular priests to become rebels and 
victims against their own will; which circumstance 
elicited from them the memorial to the Pope which 
we have reported at p. 163. But, that no doubt may- 
remain about it, listen to the ingenuous Cretineau, who, 
enumerating the benefits rendered by the Jesuits to 
Romanism, says, " Have they not preserved in Eng- 
land the germ (of Popery) which is now developing 
itself with such vigour, and which in Ireland, after 
three hundred years of martyrdom, became a legiti- 
mate revolution?"* No words can prove better than 
these that the Jesuits were constantly and actively 
employed in Great Britain in propagating Romanism, 
a doctrine which, according to them, confers upon the 
Pope the right of supremacy, of disposing of the crown 
at his pleasure, and of releasing the subjects from their 
allegiance to a heretic sovereign, and which, conse- 
quently, amounts to high treason. In this aspect alone 
can be in part excused those sanguinary laws of perse- 
cution and tyranny enacted in the reigns of Elizabeth 
and James against the Roman Catholics. We insist 
upon this consideration. 

Now, in the particular case which we are examin- 
ing — the gunpowder plot — we believe that Catesby 
and Percy, at first, contrived the plot without the 
knowledge or participation of the Jesuits, as it is not 
denied that afterwards Gerard, Tezmund alias Green- 
wall, and Garnet, were made acquainted with it in all 
its horrid details. The whole question regarding 
Garnet, who alone suffered for the conspiracy, has 
hitherto amounted to this — whether he knew of it in 

* " N'ont ils pas conserve en Angleterre le germe qui se developpe avec 
tant de vigueur, et qui en Irlande, apres trois cents ans de martyre, devient 
une revolution legitime ]" Vol. iii. 510. 



286 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



any other way than as it was revealed to him by 
Father Gerard, under the seal of confession. And the 
Jesuits and Papists insist upon this point, pretending 
that, in such a case, Garnet could not reveal the con- 
spiracy without committing sacrilege. To speak the 
truth, we are inclined to believe that he, literally 
speaking, did not know of it other wise ; and these are 
the reasons why we believe so. Garnet was not, like 
Parson, a bold and daring partisan, capable of braving 
any danger, of attempting any enterprise. He was a 
very poor conspirator, in no way disposed to earn the 
palm of martyrdom. Catesby, who had been his asso- 
ciate in the plots during the reign of Elizabeth, must 
have known him well, so that he and the other conspira- 
tors did not trust him at first even with their confession. 
It was Greenway who, in our opinion, violated the seal 
of confession by apprising his superior of what was 
going on. It is not improbable, then, that when after- 
wards Catesby proposed to disclose to him the whole 
plan of the plot, Garnet, who had nothing to learn, 
refused to listen to him, in order that, in case of ill- 
success, he might not be accused of being an accom- 
plice. That all the J esuits approved of the plot and 
wished it success, there is very little doubt, and we 
even believe that, without speaking openly to the point, 
Garnet must have indirectly, by cunning, adroit in- 
sinuations, encouraged the conspirators to consummate 
the horrible crime. It is a fact deponed by Bates, 
and indubitably proved, that Garnet and the other 
two Jesuits had frequent interviews with Catesby and 
the other conspirators some few days before that 
which had been fixed upon for the execution of the 
plot ; and we do not hesitate to say, that had Garnet 
wished to deter the conspirators from their infernal 
projects, he might have found a thousand ways of 
doing so without at all betraying the secrets of the 
confessional. But suppose that, as we have said, 
Garnet and Greenway did not know of the conspiracy 



OVERGROWING INFLUENCE OP THE SOCIETY. 287 

except under the seal of confession, and that they in 
no way encouraged and abetted it, yet we cannot 
acquit them of the charge of being accomplices in the 
crime. 

We have related at p. 140 that at Grenada the 
Jesuits had propounded a doctrine that there are cir- 
cumstances in which the confessor may oblige his 
penitent to discover his accomplices or permit him to 
inform the competent authorities of the crime. It is 
true that the crime specified was heresy, but we think 
that the same may be said of murder or any other 
crime, and that that doctrine which is good at Grenada 
must be equally good in England. But let that pass, 
and let us proceed. The conspirators, at least five of 
them, declared to the confessor, that they were medi- 
tating a horrible crime, that they were taking mea- 
sures to accomplish it, and that they were sure of 
success. The confessor granted them absolution, and 
another Jesuit administered to them the communion. 
Now, the indispensable condition of the validity of ab- 
solution from a sin, is, that the penitent feel repentance 
or contrition for having committed it. How then could 
Father Greenway absolve the conspirators from a crime 
of which they not only did not repent, but which they 
were proceeding at all hazards to perpetrate ? The 
evil spirit himself expounds this doctrine to the unfor- 
tunate Guido, to whom he proves that the absolution 
he had received from the Pope from a sin he had not 
yet committed was null. 

n No power can the impenitent absolve, 
Nor to repent and will at once consist, 
By contradiction absolute forbid,"* 

We conclude from this, that either your confession 
is merely a snare to entrap fools, or that Greenway 
considered the conspiracy not a hellish crime, but a 
meritorious deed ! 

* " Che assolver non si ;pud~ chi non si pente, 
Ne pentere e volere insieme puossi 
Per la contradizion che nol consente." — Dante's Inferno, 



288 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



But we have a still more stringent argument. 
Suppose that, following some of their probable opinions, 
the Jesuits thought that they were obliged to absolve 
the miscreants, and that their ministry obliged them 
faithfully to keep the secret, had they not the Pope, 
the omnipotent Pope to apply to, to absolve them from 
that obligation ? Is there any precept, any sacrament, 
any law human or divine, from the fulfilment of which, 
according to their doctrine, the Pope cannot grant a 
dispensation ? If there is any, let it be pointed out, and 
we shall absolve them. But if they cannot deny that 
the Pope could have released them from the secrecy 
of confession, and if they cannot prove that they 
asked such dispensation, it is evident that they did not 
wish to prevent the crime. And if this was connivance, 
and if this connivance was a capital crime, then their 
condemnation was undoubtedly a legal and just sen- 
tence, and they met with nothing but deserved punish- 
ment. We wonder that James, who was so well versed 
in theological controversies, did not find out any of 
these arguments, which would certainly have furnished 
more plausible grounds for a condemnation than the 
equivocal confession wrung from the Jesuits by the 
contrivance of ignoble and disgraceful snares. For 
if we unreservedly condemn the Jesuits, we exclaim 
with equal energy against the proceedings of their 
adversaries. All the forms of justice, all the laws of 
humanity, were scandalously violated. Garnet is con- 
fined in a prison, repeatedly interrogated, and, in 
order that he may betray himself, assured that his 
accomplice Father Greenway has been arrested, and 
that he has confessed everything. Then, after he 
has been long in a dungeon alone, a jailor, pretending 
to be touched with compassion, tells the desolate 
man, that another Jesuit is close by, and that he can 
converse with, and even see him; and opens a door 
through which the two friends can see each other. 
The manner in which his secrets were surprised ; the 



OVERGROWING INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIETY. 289 

misconstruction of his words; the interception of 
letters, which he was assured he might in safety write 
to his bosom friends; the strange imputation of roguery, 
because he did not consent to accuse himself, in clear 
and precise words ; the promises which were held out 
to him and never kept ; and, above all, the protracted, 
cruel, and inhuman moral torture which was inflicted 
upon him on the scaffold ; * all deserve our severe 
and unconditional censure. Thank God! in England 
at least we are now far from those cruel times of in- 
justice and fanaticism, and we sincerely hope we shall 
never see them back again. 

The Jesuits were not appalled nor discouraged by 
the execution of Garnet, nor by that of Oldcorne, who 
had suffered at Worcester some days before.f We 
find them in almost all the conspiracies which were got 
up to impede the regular march of the government, 
and we find from time to time severe and inquisitorial 
laws enacted against them, some of which forbade 
them to set foot in England, under penalty of death. 
It is an incontestable fact, that the Jesuits, by their 
turbulent and treacherous conduct, were the cause of 
most of the rigorous measures taken by the govern- 
ment against the Roman Catholics, who ought there- 
fore to consider those crafty monks as their most 
bitter enemies. Another inference may be drawn 
from what we have related, namely — that no danger, 
not even that of death, can deter a Jesuit from follow- 
ing out his projects, when once they are considered 
to be profitable to the Order, or necessary to avenge 
it of its enemies. The moment they could return 
from exile, the instant they were set free from 

* The Recorder of London, the Dean of St Paul's, and that of West- 
minster, acoinpanied him to the fatal scaffold, and at that awful moment, 
when the wretched man had need to prepare himself for the presence 
of the supreme infallible Judge, they, for tha space of an hour, obliged 
him to discuss the lawfulness of equivocation, and the criminality of the 
Plot, and thus subjected him to another trial ! 

f Oldcorne was executed on the 17th of April 1606, Garnet on the 
3d of May of the same year. 



290 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS* 



dangers or untied from the rack, they returned to their 
plots and intrigues with unabated ardour and most 
wonderful obstinacy. A striking instance of this was 
furnished by the Jesuit Fischer, who, the moment he 
was liberated from the tower, undertook to convert to 
Catholicism the mother of the brilliant Buckingham, 
who did in fact abjure Protestantism, and, in union 
with France and Spain, contrived to render less cruel 
the laws of proscription against the Catholics.* 

During the fatal struggle which Charles I. main- 
tained against the Parliament, the Jesuits publicly 
and openly took part with the cavaliers, because 
Charles was evidently much better disposed towards 
them than were the Puritans. It is evident that, by 
shewing their devoteclness to the king, if the contest 
had ended in his favour, they might not only have hoped 
for the free exercise of their religion, but for a consider- 
able share of influence over him. But a very grave 
accusation was brought against them, which, if true, 
would shew them guilty of the most diabolical iniquity. 
We have no proofs to establish this accusation, which 
was produced some years after the event; but, if we 
are to declare our own conviction, we firmly believe 
them guilty ; not because we credit in all its parts the 
narrative of Jurieu, but for the reasons we are about 
to give. Jurieu relates that the Jesuits, to re-establish 
the Roman Catholic religion, thought that it would 
be necessary that Charles, then prisoner, should fall, 
and the monarchy along with him. In consequence, 
eighteen of them, headed by a lord of the realm, went 
to Rome to consult the Pope. The matter was dis- 
cussed in secret assemblies, and it was decided that it 
was lawful that Charles should die. The deputies, 
on their return from Rome, shewed to the Sorbonne 

* Cret. vol. iii. p. 476.— He might have said that Fischer was the 
author of many paltry contrivances, and that his endeavours were not 
so much directed to alleviate the misery of the persons of his persua- 
sion as to resuscitate enemies to the established government, in con- 
formity with the wishes of Spain and France. 



OVERGROWING INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIETY. 291 



the response of the Pope, of which many copies were 
distributed. The Sorbonne approved. On their 
return to England, the Jesuits set themselves to work, 
and sent many of the most ardent Catholics among the 
Independents, dissembling their religion, to inflame 
still more their passions, and push things to extremities. 
Their scheme having failed, they wished to have back 
the copies of the consultation of the Pope and the 
Sorbonne; but the priest who before abjuring Protes- 
tantism had been Charles's confessor, and who was 
intimate with the Jesuits, would not give up his 
copy, and, after the return of the Stuarts, shewed 
it to many persons who were still living, and could 
afford actual evidence of the reality of what he nar- 
rated.* 

This statement, literally taken, does not stand exa- 
mination, and Cretineau, who reports it, triumphantly 
exclaims, that this manner of writing history renders 
all discussion impossible.")* No, certainly not ; such in- 
fernal projects as to drive the king to extremities, and 
make the king's head fair for the fulfilment of their 
designs, if formed, were neither publicly nor secretly 
discussed at the Court of Rome in the presence of 
eighteen Jesuits and a lord, and much less was the 
conclusion they came to, and their approval of the 
project, put in writing and freely distributed: we 
readily acquit them of such foolish contrivances. But, 
knowing as we do the arts of the Loyolan brother- 
hood, we repeat that we firmly believe that it is more 
than probable that the Jesuits did mix among the 
Roundheads and excite their fanaticism to frenzy. I 
have recorded (page 171) an almost similar fact which 
appeared under our own eyes in Rome. And I must 
further add, that all the more virulent men who, in 
the beginning of Pius IX.'s reign, were proposing 

* Politique du clerge de France, ou entretiens curieux; deuxieme 
entretien : par Pierre Jurieu la Haye, 1682. 
+ Cret. vol, iii. p. 489. 



292 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



the most daring and extravagant measures, were 
afterwards discovered to be either in the pay of the 
fathers, or to be the unconscious tools of their secret 
agency. 

Discouraged a little under Cromwell, the Jesuits 
took heart again after the restoration of Charles II., 
and resorted to their usual arts and machinations. If 
we are to believe what they boast of, it seems that 
they had plunged into a more dangerous and extensive 
conspiracy against the Protestant religion and the 
English liberties than we are aware of. " A secret 
treaty," says Cretineau, "had been signed between 
Louis XIV. and Charles II., to re-establish the Catholic 
religion in Great Britain. Fathers Annat and Ferrier, 
successively confessors to the French king, and the 
English Jesuits, had not been strangers to this nego- 
tiation ; Colman did not ignore those details, and he 
spoke of them in his letters to Father Lachaise."*v 
We do not know how far we may credit this assertion ; 
we know that Charles debased himself by asking and 
receiving money from the French monarch, to whom 
he betrayed the interests of his allies and of his own 
kingdom ; but, as to having stipulated for the re- 
establishment of the Romish religion, we would not be 
bold enough to assert that it was so. However it be, 
this statement is connected with the famous Popish plot 
which, in 1678, threw Great Britain into such a state 
of alarm and excitement, and which, although it was at 
first the cause of many innocent victims beings sacri- 
ficed, ultimately produced an immense and glorious 
result — the Habeas Corpus Act. 

Oates and Bedloe are two names which have come 
down to posterity abhorred and execrated by every 
honest man. These infamous and abandoned men 
accused the Jesuits, the Pope, the Kings of France 
and Spain, many English noblemen, and some scores 
of thousands of the English citizens, of a plot so 
* Cret. vol. iv. p. 197. 



OVERGROWING INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIETY. 293 

absurd, as to make, in our days, every one ashamed 
of repeating it. And yet the generality of the com- 
mon people, and the greater part of the higher classes, 
at the time believed in its reality. Nothing else was 
talked of, and all the cares of the government, 
the activity of the parliament, and the energy of the 
citizens, were exerted to protect the nation from an 
imaginary impending ruin. This ought to teach 
us how the passions and spirit of party deprive us of 
our right feeling and judgment, and how dangerous it 
is to give way to the impulse of the moment in times 
of great commotion. Many noblemen and citizens 
were arrested upon the deposition of these scoundrels. 
Many suffered the extreme penalty of the law. 
Father Ireland, on the deposition of Oates, for which 
the latter was afterwards condemned for perjury, was 
sentenced to death and executed ; and soon after, the 
provincial and four other Jesuits met with the same 
fate upon the same absurd and unjust accusation. 

W e do not pretend to say, however, that the Jesuits 
at such an epoch had quite renounced their intrigues 
and treacherous projects, and were not to be looked 
after. No ; their restless and enterprising spirit ren- 
dered, and does still render, them very dangerous, and 
their conduct in Protestant countries may be said, 
with justice, to be a permanent conspiracy against the 
welfare and the interests of all other communities ; and 
they themselves, as we said, confess as much. But 
they were guiltless of the crime of which they were 
accused, and for which they suffered. How much 
more mischief they were the cause of in the reign of 
the despotic and bigoted James II. ! It was at their 
instigation that this bigoted monarch annulled the 
test act, imprisoned many Protestant bishops, had as 
many as four Roman Catholic priests consecrated 
bishops at a time, and had formed a plan for converting 
England to the Popish idolatry. Yet all these arbitrary 

and foolish acts resulted also at last in the great advan- 

u 



294 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 

tage of the English nation. The Jesuits' influence had 
grown so powerful under James's reign, that Father 
Peter was admitted into the privy council, and we do not 
hesitate to say, that the favour James shewed to the 
members of the Company and to the Catholics in 
general, and the authority they exercised over him, 
was one of the most efficient causes of raising up the 
people of England's feelings of indignation, and to 
bring them to resolve upon and achieve the glorious 
Revolution of 1688 



AMERICAN MISSIONS. 



295 



CHAPTER XIII. 

1600-1753. 
AMERICAN MISSIONS. 

When we reflect that the Jesuits are our fellow-men, 
that their crimes and iniquities which we are compelled 
to stigmatise, are in some measure a stain upon the 
human species, we sincerely rejoice when we find some 
noble action to record, and when we may write a page 
of praise and eulogium. We think we have shewn 
this impartiality in our account of the Indian missions, 
when, while condemning with all our might the 
idolatrous practice of later times, we awarded to the 
first missionaries the praise that was due to their pure 
and generous intentions, and to their prodigious and 
unremitting activity. We are placed in much the 
same predicament in speaking of the American 
missions, when we find the evil inherent in the spirit 
of the sect, and in the religion they profess, united 
with noble and generous endeavours to make the 
happiness of a barbarous and savage population, by 
reducing it under benignant and humane laws, and by 
imparting to it the benefit of Christianity, at least 
in its effects upon the external conduct and mode of 
living. No doubt, a Christian Protestant — a man 
deeply imbued with the true spirit of the gospel, and 
who abhors any form of worship which consists in 
mere bodily service — will find much to blame in these 
missions. No doubt the Jesuits here, as in India, 



296 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



preached and taught superstitious practices and ex- 
ternal observances, rather than the sincere devotion 
of the heart, and the faith to be reposed on the merits 
of Christ's blood. No doubt they converted the 
spiritual and mystic religion of Christ into a sensual 
worship of material symbols. But, to be just, we 
think that these reproaches are due to Popery, to 
the Roman Catholic religion in general, and not to 
the Jesuits alone, and that we ought not to withhold 
from them the praise they deserve for any good 
quality or merits they possess, merely because they 
are Papists. This would be too invidious, and would 
render us guilty of capital injustice towards those 
'Romanists or Jesuits who sincerely believe that theirs 
is the only true religion; and be assured that in all 
religions, there are some who think thus of their own. 
On the other hand, the Jesuits are accused of having 
undertaken these missions solely with a view to their 
private ends, to aggrandise and enrich the order, and 
not to advance the interests of religion and the glory 
of God. This we freely admit, and we have re- 
peatedly said that the Order has always been the 
ultimate end of their conduct ; but to refuse them the 
merit of having brought a savage population into the 
pale of civilisation, because they did so for their own 
private interest, would be the same as to apply the 
epithet of rogue to a landlord or manufacturer, who 
treats his dependants with unwonted kindness and 
humanity, because, by treating them in this manner, 
he himself receives immense advantage. 

Our readers must not infer from what we have just 
said, that we do not find anything with which to re- 
proach the Jesuits in their American missions. We 
shall have many things to censure in them, but, on the 
whole, their proceedings appear to us to be deserving 
of the greatest praise, and we feel obliged to defend 
them from the gross abuse which has been indiscri- 
minately poured upon them on this score. 



AMERICAN MISSIONS. 



297 



The character of the Western and Eastern missions 
differ widely, both in the means employed and the 
results obtained. In East India and China, the 
principal feature of the missions is the idolatry with 
which the Jesuits polluted the Christian religion. 
Having to deal with populations in possession already 
of more or less civilisation, and deeply imbued with 
the prejudices of their religion, the Jesuits thought of 
humouring them in their belief, and sometimes shewed 
themselves more inclined to idolatry than the pagans 
they were labouring to convert. Besides, having on 
one side to contend with the pagan priests, wha 
wanted themselves to work the ignorance and pre- 
judices of the Indians to their own "account, and being 
harassed on the other by the chief of their own 
religion, who would not admit of any other idolatry 
than that which was approved by himself, the Jesuits 
could not obtain in the East Indies any great and 
permanent result. 

Of a quite different character are the missions of 
America. The Jesuits found there a barbarous 
and savage population, zealous of their vagabond inde- 
pendence, fierce in their enmities, without any positive 
notion of a peculiar religion, and, consequently, easy to 
be subjected to any superior intelligence who should 
undertake to inculcate upon them no matter what new 
creed. The chief difficulty there lay in the im- 
possibility of having any intercourse with the persons 
whose conversion was desired. The Indians, simple and 
kind when first discovered, had now become ferocious 
and excessively cunning, having been driven to extre- 
mities by the cruel and merciless treatment they had 
experienced from the rapacious Spaniards, a treat- 
ment which had inspired them with mortal hatred 
against all Christians, and against the very name of 
Christ, which had been sacrilegiously employed in the 
massacre of their kinsmen. Yet it was among the same 
savages, who avoided Europeans more than a ferocious 



298 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



beast, that the Jesuits, without arms or any com- 
pulsory means, simply by persuasion and kindness, 
succeeded in erecting an empire, all the laws of 
which were based upon the first principles of 
Christianity. Let us see how they performed such 
real prodigies. 

The Spanish adventurers had brought into con- 
quered America all the vices and the ferocious 
passions of their Inquisition. It might be said that 
South America had been transformed into a large 
inquisitorial tribunal, and that every soldier was an 
inquisitor and an executioner at the same time. The 
adventurers, to palliate their crimes, when they mur- 
dered the poor, inoffensive Indians, gave out that 
they did so to honour Christ, whom these obdurate 
pagans refused to worship. It is not our intention to 
detail all the crimes of those most Christian assassins, 
and we shall be contented with saying, that while they 
butchered tens of thousands of inoffensive people, in 
endeavouring to convert them to their religion, they 
succeeded with but very few ; and those who, to avoid 
tortures and death, submitted to be baptized, hated 
still more than their pagan brethren the very name of 
Christians. 

Ranke gives a very prosperous picture of the state of 
religion in America, and says, " In the beginning of the 
sixteenth century we find the proud fabric of the 
Catholic Church completely erected in South America. 
It possessed five archbishoprics, twenty-seven bishop- 
rics, four hundred monasteries, and doctrines in- 
numerable." * Now, with all deference to so great a 
historian, we venture to say, that we admit the 
veracity of the statement as to the number of monks 
and monasteries, archbishoprics and bishoprics ; 
but we believe that these establishments were in 
proportion to the extent of the country, not to the 
number of Christian inhabitants. Indeed, in every 

* Ranke, quoting Herrara, vol. ii. p. 228. 



AMERICAN MISSIONS. 



299 



tract of land of which the Europeans had taken pos- 
session, there was erected a church, if not for the 
accommodation of these same Europeans, at least to 
furnish priests and monks with a pretext to claim a 
share in the spoils and wealth of the country ; but we 
doubt much that many Indians frequented these 
churches. The swarms of monks who had flocked to 
America, finding in the climate a still greater stimulus to 
their usual propensity to indolence and luxury, indulged 
in all their vices, and thought only of making converts 
as far as was necessary to procure some* subjects who 
might enrich their patrons, the soldiers, as well as 
their monasteries.* Such, however, was not the con- 
duct of the Jesuits. There, as in Europe, they wished 
to be distinguished from other brotherhoods, and 
affected a more saintly and pious course of life. Con- 
cealing their ultimate purposes under the cloak of 
religion and piety, they spoke of nothing else but of 
converting infidels, and opposed, in the name of Christ, 
the sanguinary measures adopted by the conquerors, 
and approved by other religious communities. Per- 
haps we are not far from the truth when we assert 
that the J esuits adopted a more humane and Christian 
policy, as well for their private purpose, as to set 
themselves in opposition to other religious communi- 
ties. Because, it is a remarkable fact in the history 
of the Church of Rome, that while every other brother- 
hood has both friends and foes in the other bodies, the 
Jesuits alone have none but enemies. However it 
was, they set themselves to work ; and, overlooking 
for a moment the greater or less holiness of the end 
they proposed, we repeat, that the means they made 
use of to acquire a standing among the savages of 
South America are deserving of the highest enco- 

* We need hardly remind our readers, that when we speak of the idle, 
luxurious, and selfish life of the monks, we speak of the generality, for 
we are not so illiberal as to say, that among them was to be found no 
one really animated by a true zeal, and by the desire of converting infidels 
to that religion which they thought the true one. 



300 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



mium. The conquerors of this unfortunate part of 
the globe, as Robertson remarks, had no other object 
in view than to rob, to enslave, to exterminate, while 
the- Jesuits established themselves there in the view 
of humanity. They overran the country to a great 
extent, and wherever they could find an Indian, they 
overwhelmed him with so much kindness, shewed him 
so much affection, spoke so indignantly of the cruelty 
and avarice of the ferocious conquerors, with so much 
unction of the mercies of God, that these injured men 
yielded by degrees to the fascination, and accustomed 
themselves to look upon a Jesuit as a protector from 
the oppressions of the other Europeans. And pro- 
tectors they were, and proved to be. Father Yaldiva 
went purposely to Madrid to obtain from Philip III. 
orders enjoining officers to treat the poor Indians with a 
little more humanity, and brought back a decree, that 
those Indians who had settled within certain precincts 
ruled by the Jesuits, should neither be reduced to 
servitude, nor be forced to embrace the Christian 
religion.* In the Tucuman, in Paraguay, in Chili, the 
Jesuits in their wanderings were making many and 
devout proselytes, but with no other material advan- 
tage to the order except the envy of the other 
brotherhoods, and the hatred of the Spaniards, whos© 
interests they were damaging. The sagacious and 
politic Acquaviva perceived at once that this state of 
things must be mended ; and, in consequence, he sent 
to America, in 1602, a commissioner, who, re-uniting 
in Salta all the Jesuits dispersed in different countries, 
apprised them that the General thought it expedient 
to trace a plan to moderate the eccentricities (ecarts) 
of zeal, and to direct its impetuosity ; \ in other words, 
to turn such zeal to account. In consequence, it was 
-determined to concentrate all, or at least their greatest 
efforts, upon a point, and fix there the seat of 
their power in the New World. After having pro- 

* Cret. vol. iii. p. 292. f Ibid. p. 2S9. 



AMERICAN MISSIONS. 



301 



vided that a sufficient number of the order should 
remain at the stations throughout all South America, 
to keep up their schools and colleges, and their com- 
mercial establishments, Acquaviva wished that his 
disciples should employ all their energies in creating a 
new kingdom which they could call their own. 

Paraguay, an immense and most fertile region, was 
chosen for a site on which to erect this principality, 
far from any rivalry, and with the view that the 
subject should know no other master, no other reli- 
gion, no other God, than those presented to them by 
the fathers. The undertaking was difficult, and 
required a great deal of courage, patience, and intre- 
pidity ; but the Jesuits proved equal to the task. By 
degrees, they succeeded in bringing some tribes to 
listen to them. The Guaranis were the first who had 
friendly intercourse with the Jesuits, and who were 
persuaded by them to renounce their wandering and 
adventurous life, and to taste the sweets of a well- 
regulated society. Some houses were built under the 
direction of the fathers. The lay brothers, or tem- 
poral coadjutors, were the artisans who supplied them 
with what was most essential to render life pleasant 
and comfortable. Above all, the power of music was 
brought to bear on the vivid mind of those savages, 
who were charmed by the melody of the sacred songs 
repeated by the fathers. 

The knowledge the Jesuits had of the art of healing 
wounds and bodily diseases, contributed also in great 
measure to procure them friends and admirers. Curi- 
osity further favoured their efforts, while it brought 
the Indians to view what appeared to them such 
strange things in the Jesuit settlements, after they 
were sure that they should meet with nothing but 
kindness and presents. Where at first stood a few 
isolated houses, soon sprung up a village, which subse- 
quently became a neat and regular little town. The 
plan traced for these towns was uniform, and very 



302 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS, 



simple. The streets, of one breadth, extended in 
straight lines, and met in a central square. The 
church was built in the most conspicuous situation of 
the village, and was by far the most handsome and 
decorated building in the town. Near the church 
were the house of the fathers, the arsenal, and the 
storehouses. In every village there was also a work- 
house, or a sort of penitentiary for bad women. 

These villages were known under the general 
appellation of Reductions, but each of them was distin- 
guished by a proper name. The first which was 
established was dedicated to the Madonna of Loretto ; 
the second, to St Ignatius ; and others to other saints 
and Madonnas. As early as the year 1632, the 
Jesuits possessed twenty Reductions, each containing 
a thousand families. Two Jesuits, the curate and 
the vicar, were appointed to the management of each 
Reduction, which they governed with absolute and 
unquestioned authority. They were the sovereigns, 
the friends, the physicians, the gods, of those barba- 
rians who consented to live in the Reductions. They 
partook of their labours, of their amusements, of their 
joys, of their sorrows. They visited daily every 
house in which lay a sick person, whom they served 
as the kindest nurse, and to whom they seemed to be 
ministering genii. By such conduct they brought 
this primitive population to idolise them. 

It must not be supposed, however, that the Jesuits 
obtained at once over the ferocious adult Indians a 
general and absolute power. Even those who had con- 
sented to receive baptism, and to live for some time in 
the Reduction, often deserted it, and disdaining to live 
that peaceful and comparatively effeminate life, return- 
ed to their forests, and to their former life of constant 
warfare, in search of their enemies, in order to gratify 
their cannibal appetites. Often they rebelled against 
the Jesuits' authority, and not seldom menaced them 
with utter destruction. But the second generation— 



AMERICAN MISSIONS. 



303 



those children who were born within the Seduction, 
and had been brought up by the fathers — shewed 
themselves the most submissive and devoted of all 
subjects. Gratitude for the kindness they had ex- 
perienced, admiration for the superior intelligence and 
acquirements of their masters, awe for the religion 
they were taught, fear of punishment and disgrace — 
all combined to render them faithful and submissive 
to the fathers, 

When once the Jesuits had raised up a generation 
so devoted and obedient, they then brought into 
operation their system of government, and made a 
successful attempt to realise that republic preconceived 
of old by Plato, and which, with perhaps more inte- 
rested views, is held out to us by the Socialists of our 
own day. In fact, their form of a republic was nothing 
else than that Communism which the famous Cabet is 
now trying to establish in nearly the same regions ; 
the only difference being, that the Jesuits substituted 
themselves for the state or community. 

The most perfect equality reigned in the Reductions. 
No mark of distinction, no difference of dress, of house 
accommodation, or of food, rendered one envious of the 
lot of another. In every Reduction there were work- 
shops in which were exercised the most useful arts. 
The moment the boys were able to work, they were 
sent there to learn the trade to which they felt most 
strongly inclined, according to a principle to which 
the Jesuits invariably adhered — " that the art must 
be guided by nature." The Jesuit lay brothers, or 
temporal coadjutors, were the artisans who instructed 
the youth, and they and the professed members them- 
selves put their hand to the plough, to encourage the 
Indians in conquering their repugnance to labour the 
soil. Every family was assigned a portion of ground, 
which they were obliged to cultivate ; and a severe 
vigilance insured a good cultivation. The women 
had also their occupations. Every Monday morning 



304 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



they received a certain quantity of wool or cotton, 
and every Saturday they were required to bring it 
back ready for the loom. All the produce, of what- 
ever sort, was deposited in large storehouses, and 
distributed, by the Jesuits, in equal portions to every 
individual. Even meat was portioned from the public 
slaughter-houses in the same manner. In the distri- 
bution, the greatest attention was paid to the orphan, 
the helpless, and the superannuated. The surplus of 
the produce was exported, and partly exchanged for 
European wares which were wanted in the Reduction ; 
and the remainder, after having paid a piastra (four 
shillings) for each individual from eighteen to fifty 
years of age, as a sort of tribute to the King of Spain, 
remained at the disposal of the fathers. No coin of 
whatever sort was permitted or known at the Reduc- 
tion. A spot of ground attached to every house may 
be said to have constituted the only property belong- 
ing to the individual ; and this was done to encourage 
and recompense industry: for, if he made it pro- 
ductive, he reaped all the profits himself, without 
diminishing the portion he received from the common 
store. The daily occupations were minutely regu- 
lated. There were fixed hours for work, for amuse- 
ment, for prayers, and an hour was even fixed in the 
evening after which every person was obliged to 
return within the wall of his own habitation. Any 
transgression of any of the established rules met with 
public corporal punishment ; but, in general, the trans- 
gressor feared more the anger of the father, than the 
castigation that awaited him. General suffrage was 
exercised in its fullest extent ; and it was the people 
who elected their magistrates, and their civil and 
military officers. All these public functionaries were 
invariably chosen from the Indians ; but, to flatter the 
pride, or lull the jealousy, of the Spanish king, they 
were distinguished by the Spanish appellations, Cor- 
regidor, Alcalde, &c. The choice of the people was 



AMERICAN MISSIONS. 



305 



j submitted, pro forma at least, to the approval of the 
Spanish authorities, who, not knowing either electors 
or candidates, could not but approve of it; but, in 
reality, the sanction of the Jesuits was indispensable 
j to the validity of the election. 

To keep these people in such a state of dependence 
j and submission, the Jesuits had secluded them from 
the rest of the world. No individual could leave the 
I Reduction without permission, and no European was 
allowed to visit these Reductions unaccompanied, or 
to have free intercourse with the inhabitants. The 
knowledge of any other than the native language was 
altogether banished, and aversion and prejudices 
against the Europeans as carefully cherished as in 
ancient Egypt. 

Nor were the Reductions left unprotected against 
the possible attacks of foreign enemies. All able- 
bodied men, were drilled to arms, and formed into a 
militia, having its regulations, its officers, its arsenal, 
its artillery, its ammunition. The officers were chosen 
by the soldiers ; the arms and ammunition, not except- 
ing the cannon, were manufactured in the Reduction, 
always by, and under the direction of, the Jesuits. 
On the afternoon of every Sunday, and other holidays, 
the militia assembled and executed military exercises 
and evolutions. When that militia was called forth 
for the service of the Spanish king, " they had always 
at their head and among their ranks, Jesuits, who pre- 
vented all contact with other Indians or with Euro- 
peans, and who answered for their virtue before God, 
as the Indians answered for their courage before 
men." * Nor, indeed, did they fail in their duty when 
an occasion presented itself. Tribes of savages often 
attacked the Reductions, but were met with undoubted 
courage, and, generally speaking, were repulsed after 
sustaining severe loss. 

But if, on the one hand, the Jesuits cherished among 

* Cret. yoI. iii. p. 312. 



306 



HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. 



the people distrust and aversion towards strangers, 
they, on the other hand, diligently inculcated the 
exercise of hospitality and friendship among the dif- 
ferent deductions. On the great festival days, and 
especially on the day of the patron saint of any Re- 
duction, the neighbouring ones went thither in solemn 
procession, and were received with all possible marks 
of love and friendship. 

Such is a sketch of the civil government of the 
Reductions, and of the kind of life led by the inhabi- 
tants. Objections and reproaches, and perhaps not 
always unfounded, have been raised against such a 
system. It has been said that the inhabitants of the 
Reductions were low and abject slaves, led on by the 
scourge, deprived even of the faculty of thinking, and 
confined in a perpetual imprisonment, though within a 
large space. Quinet, with perhaps more eloquence than 
reason, exclaims, "Are we sure that it (Paraguay) 
contains the germ of a great empire ? Where is the 
sign of life ? Everywhere else, indeed, one hears at 
least the squalling of the child in the cradle; here, I 
greatly fear, I confess, that so much silence prevail- 
ing in the same place for three ages, is but a bad sign, 
and that the regime which can so quietly enervate 
virgin nature, cannot be any other than that which 
develops Guatmozen and Montezuma." All this is very 
well said, and may be in part true. Doubtless, these 
people were kept in perpetual infancy. Doubtless, 
nothing great, nothing of a creating stamp, must be 
expected from them. Doubtless, they did not develop 
and expand the new element of life imparted to them, 
as other nations have done who were more left to 
themselves; nor did they exercise the noblest part of 
their nature — the intelligence — in that pursuit for which 
we think man was created — the search after truth. 
But surely there are nations who have been placed 
in worse circumstances, and subjected to more dis- 
astrous influences, and more deserving our pity and 



AMERICAN MISSIONS. 



307 



commiseration. Thus, if a nation, that has, through the 
free exercise of all its faculties and activities, arrived 
at a high state of civilisation and refinement, should be 
at once crushed, as France is at the present moment, 
under the iron hand of despotism, that people would be 
really miserable, and such doleful lamentations as those 
of the eloquent ex-professor of the College of France 
would not in this case be misplaced. But these 
Americans, who knew nothing of the pleasures of moral 
and intellectual refinement but what was presented to 
them by their instructors, and found therein content- 
ment, we do not know how far they deserve to be 
pitied. Were these people, we ask in our turn, less 
happy or more miserable than those tens of thousands 
who wallow in vices of all sorts in the free and civil- 
ised towns of Paris and London ? Are, then, squalid 
poverty, the groans of the oppressed, and reckless 
sensuality, necessary elements of national happiness ? 
These are questions which in our opinion deserve some 
consideration ; and although we think the human race 
has been destined by the Creator to greater and 
nobler purposes than the mere enjoyment of a mate- 
rial life ; and although we know that humanity must 
progress in its career, and that this progress cannot 
be attained without great commotion and great evil, 
nevertheless, when we contemplate all the miseries 
which surround our state of civilisation, we freely 
forgive the Jesuits for having, in one part of the globe, 
let civilisation and progress sleep a while, to render 
these poor Indians happy. 

Better founded are the charges brought by the 
pious and zealous against the Jesuits, with respect to 
the kind of religion they taught to their neophytes. 
In fact, though we cannot trace any such permanent 
system of gross idolatry as was practised by the 
order in the East Indies, nevertheless it is an undeni- 
able fact, that what was taught by them under the 
name of the pure religion of Christ, was little else 



308 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 

than a series of empty forms and superstitious ob- 
servances, and that the worship which was rendered 
to God was little better than a continual and motley 
masquerade, if we may be allowed the expression. 
We shall not enter into details, the following passage 
from Cretineau sufficiently shewing what sort of 
Christians, if they can be called so at all, were those 
converted by the Jesuits. " Those Indians had a very 
limited intelligence ; they only understood what fell 
under their senses; and the missionaries were so 
alarmed at their stupidity, that they asked themselves 
whether it was possible to admit them to the participa- 
tion of the sacraments. They consulted, upon this 
point, the bishops of Peru assembled at Lima, who 
came to the decision that, baptism excepted, no act of 
Christian devotion shoirfd be imposed upon them, 
without infinite precautions " * It is true that the 
panegyrist of the order adds, that the patience of the 
J esuits was not discouraged for all this, and that they 
endeavoured to render them better Christians, and, 
we even believe, if the man who fulfilled all the im- 
posed external ceremonies may be called a Christian, 
that they succeeded in their attempt. 

However, it seems that the Jesuits had so com- 
pletely perverted the true spirit of the Christian 
religion, that even Roman Catholic bishops, who, as 
every one knows, are not very scrupulous in these 
matters, were shocked and indignant at their conduct, 
and made an attempt to put a stop to it. Bernardin 
of Cardenas, Bishop of Paraguay, and John Palafox, 
Bishop of Angelopolis, were the most prominent in 
their efforts to put a stop to the Jesuitical supersti- 
tions; but both were unsuccessful; both were worsted 
in the contest; both were obliged- to wander as poor 
exiles out of their dioceses; and both were at last 
compelled to give up their bishoprics. The history 
of Palafox in particular deserves to be briefly told. 

* Cret. vol. iil p. 502. 



AMERICAN MISSIONS. 



309 



Palafox was a man of the greatest piety, of a pure 
and uncontaminated life, and, after his death, was even 
proposed for canonisation. He bore no ill-will to the 
Jesuits; on the contrary, as a good Papist which he was, 
he even overrated their merits. In his letter to the 
King of Spain, he says of them, " The Company of the 
holy name of Jesus is an admirable institution, learned, 
useful, sainted, worthy not only of the protection of 
your majesty, but of all the Catholic prelates."* A 
man who thus speaks of the order cannot be sus- 
pected of enmity ; and it must be inferred that he 
would not have attacked the Society, unless constrained 
by duty or necessity. He attempted at first to bring; 
them to reason by remonstrance.f He afterwards^ 
wrote a strong letter to Pope Innocent X., and 
asked for a reform of the Society, indispensable, 
he said, for the good of the Christian community. 
The result was, that the Jesuits raised such a storm,, 
and excited so many bad passions against the virtuous 
prelate, that he, " not to be imprisoned or murder ed r 
was obliged to fly, and to wander," as he wrote to 
the Pope, " through inhospitable mountains and forests ; 
to appease his hunger with the bread of affliction ; to 
quench his thirst with the water of his eyes ; to have 
no other house than caverns and the hard ground; 
and to pass his life with serpents and scorpions." J 
Such was the life to which the Jesuits had reduced 
the poor bishop. But even this did not satisfy them. 
To satiate their spirit of revenge, they did not scruple,- 

* See this and 'other letters of this prelate in Arnauld, torn. xxxiL 
and xxxiii. 

^ Palafox, wishing to see the authorisation, which the fathers pre- 
tended to have, to confess without the diocesan's order, in opposition 
to a decree of the Council of Trent, asked them to shew him such an 
authorisation ; they answered that they had the privilege not to shew it. 
" Let me see that privilege," said the bishop. " We have the privi- 
lege to keep secret our privileges." " Shew me at least this last 
privilege." " We are authorised to keep secret even this other privilege." 
See the letter in which the prelate relates the fact in Arnauld, torn, 
xxxiii. pp. 486-534. 

X Letter to Innocent X., An. 1649, ss. 14-18. 

X 



310 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



to profane the episcopal dignity, and the most sacred 
mysteries of that religion which they professed to 
uphold. In 1647, on the day of the- festival of their 
founder Loyola, the pupils of the college got up a 
procession, of which the following were the principal 
features. One of the scholars had the crozier hanging 
from the tail of his horse, and the mitre at the stir- 
rup. Another carried an image of the bishop in 
caricature ; others carried indecent images of highly 
respectable priests. This one gave a blessing with the 
horns of a bullock, saying, " Such are the true 
armorial of the Christians/ 3 That others held up 
tuith one hand the image of the Saviour, and with 
the other an infamous thing which decency forbids 
us to name. All of them shouted out the Lord's 
Prayer, at the end of which they repeated with 
thundering shouts, " Libera nos a Palafox — Deliver 
us from Palafox." * 

At last, the Court of Rome, in order to protect him, 
transferred him to the see of Osma in Spain, where 
he gave such proofs of virtue and piety, that he died 
in the odour of sanctity, received subsequently the 
title of JServus Dei and Venerabilis, and, about 
sixty years after, was proposed for canonisation, t 
But can it be believed — would any one imagine — that 
Jesuits of the third generation would step forward 
to renew their attack against the ancient opponent 
of the order, and oppose his canonisation? And yet 
such was the case. The General of the Company 

* Letter of Palafox to Father Rada, Provincial of the Jesuits, 1649. 
See Arnauld, torn, xxxiii. p. 643. Some Jesuits have denied the 
authenticity of this letter, others the truth of the accusation, and have 
called the prelate a calumniator. As to the authenticity of the letter, it 
cannot be denied, since the bishop himself published it in his Defensa 
Ganonica, dedicated to the King of Spain ; and the well-known character 
of Palafox puts his veracity beyond question ; nor would he have dared 
to bring before the royal throne a false accusation. 

*f* I forgot to mention, in speaking of the canonisation of saints, that, 
in general, many years are allowed to pass after obtaining a title of 
Servus Dei, for example, before the other title, Venerabilis, is asked for, 
and so on. 



AMERICAN MISSIONS. 



311 



actually interfered, and by the mouth of the promo* 
ter of the faith — promotore delta fede,* calumniated 
his doctrines, his conduct, his life ; and succeeded in 
postponing the canonisation till the storm which was 
gathering broke forth, and dispersed for a while the 
hated Company of Jesus.f This example goes far 
to shew how deeply is rooted in the heart of the 
J esuit the spirit of hatred and revenge ! 

We have reported at some length the incidents 
connected with Palafox, as peculiarly exemplifying 
both the character of that individual, and the nature 
of the facts and the scandal they produced among the 
Papists themselves, and which is not yet alleged. 
But this is merely one example, amongst thousands, of 
the domineering and persecuting spirit of Jesuitism. 
" The innumerable and continual proceedings that 
were brought against you at the Court of Rome/' says 
Gioberti, addressing the order, "bear witness of the 
kind of concord and good friendship which the Com- 
pany maintained with their companions in the priest- 
hood and apostolate. The first cause of the quarrel 
has always been, that your missionaries wanted to be 
alone, and to exclude the other orders from any 
participation in the missions; and for this they first of 
all applied to the Holy See ; and when they did not 
succeed there, they had recourse to all sorts of tricks, 
insidious calumnies, persecutions, and acts of violence/'J 
So speaks a man who glories in being a truly good 

* The office of this personage in the canonisation is to raise, pro forma, 
objections to its accomplishment, by questioning the virtue of the man, 
the reality of his miracles, and so on. In Italy he is called the advocate 
of the devil ; and our Gioberti, with perhaps more wit than Christian 
charity, says, " In the case of Palafox, the name (advocate of the devil) 
may have well become him, as he was the advocate of the fathers." 

•j* Owing to the French Revolution of seventeen hundred and eighty- 
nine, the proceedings for the canonisation of Palafox, which had lasted 
fifty-five years, were never resumed, till lately an attempt was made to 
make a saint of him ; but the Jesuits were again too powerful to allow it, 
and the case is yet pending, so that it may be said that the good Palafox 
is in a sort suspended between earth and heaven. 

+ Gioberti, ut supra, vol. iii. p. 151. 



312 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



Roman Catholic, and who enumerates many bishops, 
vicar-generals, popes, legates, &c, who had been 
sorely persecuted by the fathers. In fact, here is 
the policy adopted by the Jesuits towards the supe- 
rior ecclesiastical authorities everywhere, and more 
especially in the East and West Indies. We beg the 
especial attention of our readers to the following state- 
ment, because it serves to explain the apparent 
anomaly existing among Popish bishops and other 
functionaries, in respect to the favour or, hatred shewn 
bv them to the Jesuits. 

e/ 

The bishop, or legate, or cardinal, or whoever 
possesses any authority, must be either friendly 
or adverse to the Company, and this especially in 
foreign and distant lands far from the control of 
Rome. In the former case, the Jesuits will load him 
with praises, whether deserved or not. They will 
pronounce him a saint, a luminary of the Church, a 
model of Christian virtue ; and leaving to him all the 
external pomp and ostensible authority of his office, 
they will command and direct everything in his 
name. To such men they give the utmost outward 
respect, and make the most humble protestations of 
devotion, repeating at every word that they are the 
most obedient servants of the Holy See, and of its 
representative. And this same conduct of theirs, and 
the testimony wdiich those same persons are ready to 
give to their dutiful behaviour, is held out by the 
fathers as an answer to those who reproach them 
"with disobedience and irreligion. But if these eccle- 
siastical dignitaries refuse to submit to the guidance 
of the fathers, and pretend to exercise their own au- 
thority independently, they become profligate heretics, 
monsters of iniquity; and they may consider them- 
selves fortunate if they escape with treatment short of 
that bestowed upon Palafox and De Tournon. Indeed, 
even the very Popes have been treated in nearly the 
same manner, and have been extolled or slandered, 



AMERICAN MISSIONS. 



313 



according as they were favourable or adverse to the 
Society. There are to be found in the Bullarium a quan- 
tity of briefs against the Jesuits for their disobedience 
to the representatives of the Holy See, and for the 
persecutions these had suffered from them.* Their 
disobedience, and spirit of revolt against the Court 
of Rome, with respect to their conduct in the missions, 
in which they persisted, had become so offensive and 
provoking, that first Innocent X., and then Innocent 
XIII., had resolved to abolish the Society, not by a bold 
and decisive measure, as did afterwards Clement XIV., 
but by forbidding the reception of any more novices. 
Innocent XIII., after having ordered the Inquisition 
to collect full evidence of the almost traitorous actions 
of the Jesuits, in answer to an apologetic letter of the 
General, who declared the Society to be innocent, or, 
at least, excused their insubordination and rebellion, 
issued a bull by which it was expressly forbidden to 
the General, and the Society, to give the habit to any 
novice, or to admit any to take vows, whether 
simple or solemn.f But while Innocent was deter- 
mining to act with extreme vigour against the Society, 
he died, and by a death which awakened no unnatural 
suspicion of foul play.J 

Such are the broad features of the American 
missions. We may as well add, that the Jesuits 
thought it prudent to refuse admittance into the 
Company to all the aborigines, in order that they 
might not lose the prestige which they exercised 
over them. We must also warn our readers not to 
imagine that the Jesuits had confined their establish- 

* For the persecutions to which all those ecclesiastics, regular or 
secular, were subjected, because they would not submit to the domineer- 
ing spirit of the J esuits, see the preface of torn, xxxii. of Arnauld's work, 
with documents. 

+ Inhibendum est Patri Gfenerali, totique societate ne in posterum 
recipiant novicios ad habitum societatis, neque admittant ad vota sive 
simplicia sive solemnia. 

X See the Memoires Historique de Norbert, already quoted. See also 
Anecdotes sur Le Chine, t. vi. p. 408. 



314 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



ment to the Reductions of Paraguay. Paraguay was 
their own private kingdom, we may say, but they had 
also magnificent establishments of all kinds through- 
out all South America. Particular incidents, minute 
details, miracles, wonders, as related by the Jesuits in 
their histories, and in their letters, annucel or edifi- 
anteSy we shall not repeat ; nor shall we record some 
partial acts of cruelty and wickedness with which some 
of the Jesuits .iave been reproached. We think we 
have given as fair an idea as possible of the general 
character of the missions, and this is all that can be 
done in a general history of the order. As we shall 
afterwards have occasion to speak at some length of 
the commercial operations of the Jesuits, and of the 
ultimate fate of the Reductions, we shall now b' mg 
this chapter to an end. 



EsTERNAL CAUSES OF DECLINE. 



315 



CHAPTER XIV 

1617-1700. 

INTERNAL CAUSES OF DECLINE. 

We have seen in one of our former chapters, that 
during Acquaviva' s generalate, there broke out several 
racial insurrections against the exorbitant power of the 
oreneral, and that, although they were quelled, they 
had left in the community seeds of disobedience and a 
spirit of independence, which it was to be feared would 
manifest itself again at the first favourable moment. In 
fact, the instant it was no more restrained by the iron 
hand of the inflexible Acquaviva, it pervaded all the 
classes of the order, especially the highest, that of the 
professed, and a turbulent and haughty aristocracy 
took, in the management of the Society, the place 
reserved by Loyola for the all-powerful General. The 
character of the immediate successors of Acquaviva 
greatly facilitated such an innovation, which ultimately 
produced the ruin of the order. Vitelleschi, Caraffa, 
Piccolomini, Gottifredi, were not the proper men to 
govern this brotherhood, now ascended to the height 
of its power and pride. They were neither saints nor 
rogues enough to succeed in the undertaking. They 
did not inspire veneration enough by their pious and 
saintly life as did Borgia, nor respect and admiration 
by their superior genius in governing the community, 
as Lainez and Acquaviva had done, and the conscious- 
ness of their own insufficiency rendered them still less 
suited to the task. 



316 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



Vitelleschi, Acquaviva's immediate successor, was a 
well-intentioned man, mild and conciliatory. He was 
called by' his friends the angel of peace, and on his 
deathbed he found consolation from the conviction that 
he had never injured any one.* But it is evident that 
.such a kind and indulgent man could not oppose any 
effectual resistance to the fast-spreading corruption of 
the order, nor to the demands of determined ambition. 
What under Acquaviva had only been the expedient 
of the moment, became under Vitelleschi a rule. The 
professed members became, if not exclusively, at least 
simultaneously with the coadjutors, the administrators 
of thei temporal concerns of the Society; and the con- 
trol which the two classes had exercised, the one over 
the other, according to the wise enactments of Igna- 
tius, was for ever annihilated. While the number of 
the coadjutors decreased, that of the professed became 
out of all proportion numerous, but lost some of that 
veneration which they had earned in former times by 
a life, in appearance at least, wholly spiritual and 
ascetic. Besides, as we have said, persons of the high- 
est families, eager for ecclesiastical dignities or tem- 
poral power, now sought admission into the order, and 
Vitelleschi had neither the intention nor perhaps the 
power to refuse them, whether they were qualified or 
not. The strict and searching scrutiny to which the 
candidate ought to have submitted, and to which in 
fact he had been subjected under Loyola and the 
two following Generals, had become gradually less 
severe ; but under Vitelleschi it was altogether ne- 
glected, and the novices were absolved from many 
obligations to which the Constitution rightfully sub- 
jected them. The abuses resulting from the non- 
observance of the most essential rules increased so 
greatly, that Vitelleschi himself was much affected by 
it, and poured forth his affliction in a most eloquent 
and deprecatory letter, which he addressed to the 

* Raiike, vol. ii. p. 388. 



INTERNAL CAUSES OF DECLINE.. 



317 



members of the order. From this letter we extract 
the following passage : — " But whence can we suspect 
our disinclination to Divine things — our feeling of 
laborious irksomeness in recollection — in checking the 
wanderings of our vagrant imaginations, frequently- 
tending in that direction which is least to be desired, 
because we have not repressed them when we could ? 
What is that tenacious and entangling love of the low- 
est objects — the world, honour, parents, and worldly 
comforts? — that greater authority conceded to the 
rebellious flesh and blood rather than to the spirit in 
action, for I care not for words ; — that enervated ex- 
hausted weakness in resisting the solicitations of the 
adversary in our conflicts with the domestic enemy, 
perhaps not entirely yielding, but still not evincing 
that alacrity and exaltation of mind to which only 
victory is granted ? These are the fruits of timidity 
and of a dissolute spirit, which, unless it is raised 
betimes, and warmed anew, is clearly approaching a 
fall and destruction." And the letter concludes with 
these remarkable words — " I eagerly call all to witness 
and proclaim to them, that with Bernard I expect an 
answer to this epistle, but an answer of deeds, not 
words." * " So that," says Gioberti, " during Vitel- 
leschi's government, the spirit of the Constitution was 
quite changed : the politicians prevailed over the 
saints, and a worldly spirit over that of mysticism." f 

The evil increased under Caraffa, who succeeded 
Vitelleschi in 1646, and who was still less able than 
his predecessor to govern the Society. Caraffa was a 
simple and innocent bigot, not altogether. unworthy of 
commendation. He was remarkable for his humility: 
he would have no carriage, no servant, no mark of 
distinction, as to food or raiment, from the humblest 
of the brethren.^ He repeatedly begged his disciples 

* Epist. Meutii Vitelleschi, &c. (Antwerp, 1665.) 
+ Gioberti II Gesuita Moderno, vol. iii. p. 299. 
X Diario Deone apud Ranke, vol. ii. p. 889. 



318 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 

to lay aside all political and temporal concerns, and to 
live a religious arid pious life. He was shocked and 
grieved at heart on account of the pervading spirit of 
licentiousness and avarice, and predicted that it would 
be the ruin of the order. In fact, the Society was 
continually departing more and more from the prin- 
ciples on which Loyola had established it. The rule, 
that all who entered the order should abandon every 
temporal possession, had been strictly enforced in 
former times, but now the act of renunciation was 
either delayed, or performed under conditions, and 
that under different pretences, and especially on the 
ground that any Jesuit was liable at any time to be 
expelled from the Society. So when a novice now 
made the transfer of his property to the order, he 
clearly specified that it was in favour of such and such 
a college to which he was attached, and often with the 
reservation of himself administering the property he 
bequeathed; so .that, even when the property remained 
in the order, it was no more unconditionally at the 
disposal of the General representing the entire 
community, but of an individual, who, in a certain 
measure, still considered it as his own. Nay, many 
of the Jesuits, having more leisure and skill than 
their relations, undertook the management of their 
affairs. 

Against those evils Caraffa could do nothing but 
write letters filled with complaints, and prescribing 
remedies which were never to be resorted to. Thus, 
speaking of those Jesuits who wished to retain their 
property, he says, " Having settled in their own minds 
in what houses or colleges they are to fix their abode, 
they labour strenuously to obtain for them- 
selves the administration of what they have resigned 
to the Society." And again, " Our procurators should 
be more cautious, for, although they seek what is just 
by lawful right, still they seem to seek it with avarice 
and cupidity, and exhibit too much avidity, which 



INTERNAL CAUSES OF DECLINE. 



319 



smells of the world." * And as to profane conversation 
and licentiousness, Caraffa says, " Nor can I possibly 
pass over in silence that these errors are in a great 
measure the result of the error of the superiors."! 

What a poor idea these two generals give of the 
authority, the prestige exercised by them over the 
Community ! what a contrast with their predecessors ! 
How different would Loyola, Lainez, or even Acquaviva 
have acted I When a General of the Order, aware of 
the evils which have invaded the Society, can find no 
remedy but in complaints, the Society must inevitably 
perish ; and so it happened to the Jesuits. 

Piccolomini, who succeeded Caraffa in 1649, and 
Gottifredi, who succeeded this last in 1652, were men 
without any energy or capacity, perhaps less jealous 
than the two former Generals of the purity and 
morality of the order ; and, in their short administra- 
tions, they could do nothing but witness its increasing 
corruption. 

Here it is to be remarked, that in the election of 
the General, the choice of the congregation now in- 
variably fell upon a person without character or 
authority, that the fathers might have no master 
over them; and when the next General, Goswin Nickel, 
attempted to assert, in part, his authority, he was 
soon made aware that the times of Loyola and 
Acquaviva were gone by. 

Nickel, elected General in 1652, was a rude and 
obstinate man. He did not, indeed, contemplate any 
very deep or searching reforms; he suffered things 
to proceed, on the whole, as they had previously 
done ; but it was his habit to insist on the observance 
of his orders with peculiar obstinacy, without having 
any regard to the feelings of others, and he offended 
so grievously the self-love of the aristocratic part of 

* Vincentii CaraffaB Epistole deModis conscrvandi primcevum sinritum 
Socictatis. Part of it apud Ranke, in a note, vol. ii. p. 391. 
f Ibid. 



320 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



the Society, that the General Congregation of 1661 
adopted measures against him, such as, from the 
monarchical character of the institution, could hardly 
have been supposed possible.* The Congregation, 
desirous of setting Nickel aside, and yet unwilling to 
pronounce a deposition, applied to the Pope for 
permission to elect a vicar- general, and Innocent X. 
not only granted their request, but pointed out for 
the office his friend Oliva, who was accordingly elected. 
Then the Congregation, having decided that the vicar- 
general should possess a primitive power, independent 
of the General, the authority of the latter was wholly 
superseded, and entirely transferred to the vicar; so 
that, when some Jesuits went to pay their respects to 
Nickel, he, in a lamentable tone, said to them, " I find 
myself here entirely abandoned, and have no longer 
power to do anything." f 

It is curious, if not instructive (the veracity of the 
Jesuit historians being very well known), to listen to 
Cretineau's account of this transaction. " Nickel," says 
the French historian, " felt that he was growing old, 
that his infirmities no longer permitted him to govern 
with the required vigour ; he begged of the Jesuits to 
discharge him from a responsibility too great for him, 
by giving him an assistant; and they acceded to his 
prayers." J Nickel survived his disgrace three years, 
and Oliva became General. 

Oliva was descended from a noble family of Genoa, 
where his grandfather and his uncle had respectively 
been Doge of the republic. In Oliva the Jesuits found 
at last a chief according to their hearts. He worshipped 
a repose interrupted only by political intrigues, and the 
pleasures of the table. § He spent a great part of his 
time in the delicious villa near Albano, where he 

* Ranke, vol. ii. p. 389. 

+ Circumstantial narration in the contemporary disQOrso, apud Ranke, 
vol. ii. p. 396. m 

t Cret. vol. iv. p. 96. 

§ Grioberti, vol. iii. p. 299. 



INTERNAL CAUSES OF DECLINE. 



321 



occupied himself with the cultivation of the rarest 
exotics. When in Rome, he retired to the noviciate 
of St Andrea, where he seldom condescended to give 
audience. He never went out on foot. He lived in a 
most sumptuously and elegantly adorned apartment, 
enjoying the pleasures of a table furnished with the most 
select delicacies, such as would have tempted the appe- 
tite of a Vitellius.* He was only studious of enjoying 
the position he held, and the power he had obtained. 
Reserving for his particular attention matters of political 
importance, he left the affairs of the Society to the 
entire management of subordinate officials ; and from 
that moment it may be said that every individual (we 
speak of persons of some consequence, for in every 
society there are simpletons always ready for obe- 
dience) became, in a great measure, his own master. 
Not that the interests of the Society were neglected ; 
on the contrary, they were never so prosperous. 

The members of every religious community are 
individually great in proportion to the greatness of 
the society to which they belong, and the esteem 
in which it is held by the public. This of itself 
induces every individual member to seek with all his 
powers the aggrandisement and the splendour of his 
order ; and if this is true of any other association, it is 
pre-eminently so of the Society of J esus. The Jesuits 
of the seventeenth century worshipped the Order with 
as much idolatry as their predecessors, and, to serve 
it, were always ready to act the part of hypocrites, 
deceivers, perjurers, miscreants ; but every one served 
it (except in great general emergencies, in which they 
all acted in union) according to his own views and his 
own affections, some of them assuming even an 
absolute independence; as, for example, Annat, La- 
chaise, Letellier, &c. 

Under Oliva's government, the Society acquired 
an immense political importance. Some years before 

* Gioberti, vol. iii. p. 299. 



322 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



his death, Oliva published his correspondence, which 
extended to almost all the monarchs of Europe, 
in which, indeed, he shews himself a consummate 
politician, and deeply engaged in most serious and 
important affairs. This already awakened some in- 
terest, and made people look upon the Order as a 
good auxiliary in political intrigues. Besides, the 
fact that the Jesuits were confessors to all the Roman 
Catholic sovereigns, and that through them the General 
had it in his power to become acquainted with the most 
secret dispositions and plans of these sovereigns, ren- 
dered his friendship of inestimable value, and an object 
to be eagerly sought for by the most potent princes. 
Again, the confessor, having less or more, but al- 
ways a great influence over his royal penitent, 
became also a great personage in the country where 
he exercised his functions. Annat was a mediator 
between the great king and the Pope; and Alex- 
ander VII. thanked him for his good offices by a 
brief.* Lachaise and Letellier were possessed of 
still more power than Annat. The Court of Rome 
itself, at such an epoch, .was obliged to succumb to the 
influence of the Order ; and if any Pope, in an unlucky 
moment, ventured to oppose them in any of their 
contrivances, he was soon obliged to retract his orders, 
and to confess implicitly that he had done wrong. The 
Jesuits call this epoch the golden age of their Society; 
but we should rather call it the iron one, since it was dur- 
ing this epoch of splendour and glory that they departed 
furthest from the principles of their institution, and so 
prepared their own ruin. Possessed of very great 
wealth, enjoying an immense credit and influence with 

* The tone in which. Annat wrote to his general deserves to be re- 
marked, and to be compared with the letters that Lainez and Borgia 
used to write to Loyola — u I cannot omit to communicate," he writes, 
** to your paternity my grief on seeing that the hope which I had con- 
ceived of a speedy conclusion of the peace between the sovereign pontiff 
and the most Christian king has vanished. ... I do not know what 
malignant coincidence of events destroys all my plans/' &c. 



INTERNAL CAUSES OF DECLINE. 



323 



all classes of society, they yielded to the temptations 
peculiar to such a situation ; and, disregarding every 
i rule of prudence, and the restraints of public opinion, 
they gave themselves up to the lust of power »and 
riches — prosecuting their ambitious projects by the 
most questionable means, and thinking of nothing else 
but reaping the advantage of the position they had 
attained. As few dared now to oppose them, and as' 
the people were silent on their vices, they thought 
that these vices were now overlooked; and this en- 
couraged them still more to persist in their reprehen- 
sible conduct. It was during the seventeenth century 
that the Jesuits, lifting up for a while the thick veil of 
hypocrisy under which they had perpetrated their 
crimes, allowed the world to penetrate into the heart 
of their conduct, and to discover what they really were. 
In vain, when they perceived they were known, did 
they pull down the veil again. Their faces had been 
observed, and ever after they were to be recognised, 
under whatever mask they attempted to conceal them- 
selves. It was during the seventeenth century that 
they gave to their traffic a scandalous development, 
and that they set themselves up as dangerous rivals to 
the largest establishments. It was during the seven- 
teenth century that they set all the other religious 
orders at defiance, and awakened in them sentiments 
of hatred and jealousy, which are not yet extinguished. 
It was during the seventeenth century that they 
abused, more scandalously than ever, the credulity of 
their votaries. The example which we are going to 
quote in this particular will serve for many. 

Among the manuscripts in the British Museum, 
there is a passport given by the Jesuits in 1650, for 
the consideration of 200,000 florins (£10,000), to 
Hippolite Braem of Ghent, promising to defend him 
against all infernal powers that might make attempts 
upon his person, soul, or goods. Here is a translation 
of this strange document : — 



324 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



" The undersigned protest and promise, on the faith 
of priests and true religious in the name of our Com- 
pany, sufficiently • authorised for that effect, that, 
our Company, takes Master Hippolite Braem, LL.D., 
under its protection, and promises to defend him 
against all infernal powers which may make attempts 
upon his person, his soul, his goods, or his means ; that 
• we conjure and shall conjure for this effect (to prevent 
attempts upon his person, &c), the most serene Prince 
our Founder, making use in this case of his autho- 
rity and his credit, in order that the above-named 
Braem may be presented by him to the blessed chief 
of Apostles with much fidelity and carefulness, since 
our Company is infinitely obliged to him. In faith 
of which we have signed the present, and authenticated 
it with the seal of the Society. Given at Ghent, March 
29, 1650, and signed by the Rector, Seclin, and two 
Jesuit priests. 5 ' * 

It seems that in India the Jesuits made a great 
traffic of such passports. In those distant regions, 
the impudence of the fathers must have been still 
greater than it was in Europe. The Father Marcello 
Mastrilli, when in Japan, boasted that many times a- 
day he sent his guardian angel to pay reverence and 
deliver messages to St Francis in heaven, and that he 
received answers.j We are not surprised at the 
ridiculous and barefaced impudence of Mastrilli, who 
is celebrated for his ridiculous impostures ; but we 
are surprised that Bartoli, such an accomplished 
waiter, and not altogether despicable historian, should 
relate w T ith imperturbable gravity such puerile absur- 
dities. 

In 1681, Noyelle, " who had not the same brilliant 
qualities as his predecessors," J succeeded 01iva,and was 
himself succeeded, in 1687, by Gonzales, a harsh theo- 

* MS. Bill Harl. v. 895, f. 143. 
■f Bartoli Giappone, t. 22. 
£ Cret. vol. iv. p. 417. 



INTERNAL CAUSES OF DECLINE. 325 



iogian, who died in 1705, and had for his successor 
Father Tambourini. Nothing remarkable happened 
during the rule of these generals ; at least nothing 
that presents us with any new feature in the history 
we are writing. The Company followed the course ifc 
had entered upon, and marched with steady step to- 
wards its proper ruin. Not that there was any appa- 
rent sign of decay. The Society was, oh the contrary, 
more powerful, more courted than ever. But its 
power did not lie any longer in its intrinsic merits, or 
its adaptation to the wants of humanity ; and the in- 
terest and respect by which it seemed to be surrounded 
was ephemeral, and in some degree compulsory. With 
a few sincere devotees there was a crowd of courtiers 
who flattered for their own interest. The Company 
resembled an all-powerful minister, hated for his per- 
sonal qualities, but worshipped and extolled to the 
skies by the crowd of those who fear his power or 
await his favour, impatient till the sovereign frown 
upon him, that they may manifest their real senti- 
ments. Such was the state of the Society of Jesus 
during the seventeenth century. 



Y 



326 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



I 



CHAPTER XV. 

1700-1772. 

DOWNFALL OF THE JESUITS. 

We have brought down our history to the beginning 
of the eighteenth century, an epoch in which the power 
and greatness of the Society of Jesus had, by a gra- 
dual march, ascended to a point from which, following 
the law inherent in all human things, it could not but 
decline ; for institutions, empires, and nations, have, 
as well as man himself, their successive periods of 
infancy, youth, manhood, old age, and decrepitude ; 
and if institutions, doctrines, or nations, revive after 
their moral death, they never regain the same degree 
of force and vitality which they possessed when rising 
to the maturity of their power. According to this 
constant rule, it was evident to any profound observer 
that the Jesuits had attained that height from which 
they must inevitably descend ; but, as always happens, 
they never dreamed of their impending fate, and 
scorned the sinister forebodings of some of their number 
who foresaw and predicted it. Then, when these pre- 
dictions proved true, they laid the blame of their fall 
upon every one but its real authors — themselves ; for 
it is to them that must be attributed the ruin of their 
institution. To the causes of decay which we have 
stated, we must add that which was perhaps the prin- 
cipal one — namely, that the Jesuits, once in posses- 
sion of power, remitted their prodigious activity, for 



DOWNFALL OF THE JESUITS. 



327 



which they had been so remarkable at the commence- 
ment of their institution, and even disregarded those 
arts by which they had obtained that power. Even 
the Instruction, that all-powerful engine which had so 
admirably served their purposes, was neglected, and 
had lost its original character. It was no longer either 
gratuitous or universal ; children of families known to 
be adverse to the Order, were, on one pretence or 
another, refused admittance, or sorely annoyed if ad- 
mitted. Twice a year, at Christmas, and on their 
patron saint's (Loyola's) day, the pupils were obliged to 
bring presents to the masters ; and rewards and marks 
of distinction were given in preference to the children 
of wealthy families, or to those who brought the 
richest present. This naturally produced in these 
young persons a consciousness of independence, so 
that they would no longer endure the severity of 
the ancient discipline.* Some of them even went so 
far as to stab their masters, and the revolts of the 
pupils of the Collegio Romano became proverbial. 
Besides, the zeal which the fathers had shewn at first 
to promote study, had not only cooled away, but was 
directed to oppose any sort of progress. 

To those primary and internal causes which ac- 
celerated the downfall of the order, must be added 
also many external ones, all militating against them. 

In those countries in which the Jesuits had had the 
greatest influence, as Spain, Portugal, and Poland, 
although they preserved, as yet, the favour of the court, 
they had lost that of all the other classes of society, who, 
at least in secret, accused them of being the cause of 
the abasement and the ruin of their respective coun- 
tries. On the other hand, those sovereigns of Germany 
who had sought the Jesuits' help to oppose their Pro- 
testant subjects, after the peace of Westphalia, wishing 
to calm rather than inflame religious quarrels, though 
they did not withdraw from the Jesuits that protection 
* Ranke, vol. ii. p. 293. 



328 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



they had granted them, at least refused to give them 
that almost unlimited authority they had for- 
merly enjoyed. But the surest, perhaps, of all the 
symptoms of their approaching ruin was, that the 
Court of Rome itself began to frown upon them, and 
to shew a determination to lower their pride, and to 
bring them to some sense of their duty. We have 
already seen (pp. 127, 128) many bulls condemnatory 
of their conduct in China and India, and that Benedict 
XIV. had applied to them the very harsh and offensive 
appellations of " disobedient, contumacious, crafty, and 
reprobate men." The same Pope, at this period also 
accepted the dedication of Father Norbert's Memoir es 
Historiques, of which we have already spoken ; and 
encouraged the publication of many other books, all 
adverse to the Society. All this was ominous to the 
Jesuits. 

It was. however, in France, the former seat of their 
power and glory during the seventeenth century, that 
the ruin of the order was most effectually prepared. The 
overthrow of Port-Royal, the revocation of the Edict 
of Nantes, the massacre of the Huguenots, and all the 
persecutions exercised in that country in the name of 
religion, were justly attributed to the Jesuits. Nor 
was this all ; the exclusion from every office, civil or 
ecclesiastical, of every person who w r as not entirely 
devoted to the Order, had made their tyrannic yoke 
to be detested and abhorred in the highest degree. 

While the despotic Louis XIV. ruled France with an 
iron hand, and Lachaise and Letellier had a full dis- 
posal of lettres de cachet, few dared openly to give 
vent to the hatred they bore to the Society ; but hardly 
had the bigoted prince expired, when the long-re- 
strained animosity broke forth, and the Jesuits were 
assailed on every side. The Jansenists, the other re- 
ligious orders, the curates, the bishops, all now attacked 
the monks, who, some months before, had kept them 
in such awe, and had been masters of their fortunes. 



DOWNFALL OF THE JESUITS. 



329 



It lias also been asserted — and the Jesuits repeat 
it every day — that the abolition of their order was due 
to the then fast spreading subversive doctrines of the 
Encyclopaedists, and that Ganganelli suppressed this bul- 
wark of the Christian religion to please the atheist Vol- 
taire and his disciples. But this, in the exclusive sense in 
which the Jesuit takes it, is by no means true. The 
Encyclopaedists were not the Jesuits' particular enemies, 
nor the auxiliaries of the Jansenists. They were, per- 
haps, more opposed to the strict and ascetic character 
of the recluses of Port-Royal, than to the worldly 
and accommodating morality of the progeny of Loyola. 
But the Jesuits had identified themselves with the 
Roman Catholic religion, and all its bigoted and super- 
stitious practices, and the philosophers were happy 
that they had introduced into it so many ridiculous 
superstitions and ceremonies, upon which they could 
exercise their sarcastic and trenchant wit. Voltaire 
and his school could not have awakened in the hearts 
of thfir contemporaries such dislike, nay, contempt 
and aohorrence, for the religion of Christ, had not the 
Jesuits furnished them the means, by having intro- 
duced into it contemptible and idolatrous superstitions. 
The Encyclopedists' principal aim was to destroy the 
Christian religion ; and for this purpose, coupling with 
malignant sagacity the sublime doctrines and pure 
morality of Christ with the ridiculous practices and 
impure doctrines of the Papists, and especially of the 
Jesuits, held up the whole to the derision and profa- 
nation of a superficial public ; who, unwilling to make 
any distinction, boldly asserted that nothing was true, 
nothing was holy, nothing respectable, in the Christian 
code. Again, the philosophers, in their praiseworthy 
endeavours.to introduce the principles of civil and reli- 
gious liberty, attacked the Jesuits, now become the 
unconditional supporters of all despotism and tyranny. 
In this sense, and in this sense alone, it is true that the 
Encyclopaedists largely contributed to the overthrow 



330 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



of the order. The pamphlets and books printed and 
widely circulated at that time against the reverend 
fathers were mainly a mass of evidence exposing their 
iniquity, and tending to effect their ruin in the opinion 
of Europe. 

Nor did the Jesuits, blinded as they were by past 
success, oppose any efficacious resistance to the tor- 
rent which threatened to sweep them away. Without 
changing their conduct in the least, they had re- 
course to expedients, and thought that a little pa- 
tience and cunning would suffice to shelter them from 
the passing hurricane. This was their general prac- 
tice. However, not to be altogether passive spectators 
in the contest, they made an attempt to ingratiate 
themselves with the sceptical and profligate Philip of 
Orleans, regent of France, not, indeed, by granting 
him absolution, which he cared very little for, but by 
negotiating for him with the Papal Court, by dis- 
covering to him the secrets of Philip V. of Spain, 
who had intrusted to his confessor his intention of 
abdicating, and by procuring for the libertine and 
ignoble Dubois an episcopal seat and a cardinal's 
hat. But if D'Orleans, for political ends, seemed 
to be the Jesuits' friend, he was not assuredly the 
man to use his authority to defend them ; and 
they were, from 1716 to 1729, deprived of the exer- ( 
rise of every ecclesiastical function, having been inter- 
dicted by Cardinal de Noaille. Under the sensual and 
voluptuous Louis XV., the Jesuits attempted again to 
regain their lost influence, and, as far as the favourable 
hearing of the sovereign was concerned, they in part 
succeeded. They contrived to insinuate to him that 
their cause was the cause of religion and of the throne, 
both menaced by the philosophers ; and, to a certain 
extent, they persuaded many that such was the case, 
and their enemies did not remain unmolested. But 
while the parliament and the court, in their official 
capacities, condemned the Encyclopaedists to the Bas- 



DOWNFALL OF THE JESUITS. 



331 



tile, and their works to be burnt, they individually 
read with avidity whatever epigram was aimed at the 
Jesuits and the Christian religion, and Louis XV. was 
not the last to participate in the sneer. 

Meanwhile, the new doctrines of political reform and 
civil liberty had spread so fast, and were so eagerly 
embraced by the populations of different kingdoms, 
that their sovereigns thought proper to give some 
satisfaction to public opinion, and call to their 
councils reforming ministers. In France, Choiseul ; 
in Spain, Wall and Squillace ; in Portugal, Carvalho ; 
in Naples, Tanucci — were placed at the helm of the 
state, and began to attack the most obnoxious abuses 
against which people had set their minds. Now, in 
this disposition of the public opinion, it was evident 
that, at the first favourable circumstance, the ruin of 
the Jesuits, who had been so greatly damaged in popu- 
lar favour, would be actually consummated; because 
it was to be expected that in this case would happen 
what generally takes place in political movements, that 
when once the moral revolution is accomplished, the 
smallest pretext suffices to achieve the triumph of the 
material one also. 

Either the Jesuits furnished this pretext to Car- 
valho, prime minister of the King of Portugal ; or, at 
any rate, imagining that he had himself discovered 
it, he attempted the overthrow of the Order. 
But the causes of this overthrow were not, as is 
asserted by th£ able historian of the fall of the 
Jesuits, wholly local, and of a private and personal 
nature.* Any other occurrence would have served 
the purpose as well. It may be that Carvalho ac- 
celerated their ruin ; but even without him the 
Jesuits must have fallen. We shall briefly trace the 
order of events which issued in their expulsion from 
Portugal. 

* St Priest's History of the Fall of the Jesuits, English Trans, p. 3. 



332 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



The Jesuits, from their first entrance into the 
kingdom, had exercised a great influence oyer the 
destinies of Portugal. This influence, which they had 
in part lost during the interval that Portugal was 
under the sway of the Spanish monarch, became para- 
mount under the new dynasty. The Jesuits governed 
in the name of the two queens, the widow of John IV, 
and the wife of Alphonso VI., who had married her 
brother-in-law during the lifetime of her first husband, 
whom she dethroned, and chained to a rock.* Under 
John V., their power reached its climax, and it was 
while they ruled the nation that " Portugal fell ex- 
hausted under the protecting power of England, 
never again to recover her position." f At the com- 
mencement of Joseph I.'s reign, which we are now 
considering, they possessed an equal and again un- 
limited power ; but at that juncture a man arose to 
arrest their progress. This man was Carvalho. He 
was born in 1699, of a family of the middle class, or at 
the most of the lowest grade of the nobility. He was 
endowed w T ith many rare qualities, with a great apti- 
tude for business and administration, with unequalled 
energy and courage, and with a mind vast and capable 
of great designs ; but he was proud, vindictive, cruel, 
and not seldom unjust. To arrive at power, Carvalho 
(subsequently Count of Oeyras, and Marquis of Pom- 
bal, under which last name he is better known to his- 
tory, and by which we shall henceforth designate him) 
had courted the friendship of the Jesuits, and was by 
them brought into favour. He soon became the 
favourite, and then the master, of the weak and con- 
temptible Joseph I. Pombal, in appearance, shewed 
himself grateful to the Jesuits, and to the last moment 
assured them of his friendship. But whether, in his 
capacity of statesman, he thought them to be prejudi- 
cial to the welfare of the Portuguese nation, or whether 

* A Jesuit was the confessor of that faithful wife ! 

+ St Priest's History of the Fall of the Jesuits, English Trans, p. 4. 



DOWNFALL OF THE JESUITS. 



333 



he began to hate them, because the fathers, perceiving 
that they could in no way govern such a man as 
Pombal, had leagued with the nobility a class of 
citizens whom the vindictive minister wished to anni- 
hilate, it is unquestionable that at a certain period 
Pombal resolved, if possible, to rid Portugal of these 
dangerous monks. But, prudent and crafty, he dis- 
sembled his sentiments till a pretext or a favourable 
moment should arrive. 

A first unjust pretext he thought he had found 
in the conduct of the Jesuits in 1753. At this epoch 
a treaty between the Kings of Spain and Portugal 
effected a mutual exchange of provinces in America ; 
and, in order that the inhabitants might remain under 
their former sovereigns, it was stipulated that they 
should respectively quit the ceded territories. These 
people resisted such an unjust and tyrannical order; 
and the population of the Reductions took up arms 
and fought bravely for their own country, although in 
vain. The Jesuits were accused by the minister of 
having excited them to revolt, which they have denied, 
even affirming that the General wrote to his subordi- 
nate of Paraguay to prepare the neophytes for such a 
change, and warning them that, if difficulties should 
arise, he would transport himself to the place, to see 
that the orders of the kings were obeyed.* But, from 
what we know of the power exercised by the Jesuits 
in the Reductions, it is evident that these submissive 
beings would never have dared to stir without the 
consent and the encouragement of the fathers — encou- 
ragement which possibly they may have given them 
underhand, while preaching, in public, obedience to the 
sovereign's orders. By resorting to this duplicity, 
they incurred the blame of both parties, while, if they 
had boldly asserted their interference in vindicating 
the inalienable right of men not to be bartered as 
cattle at the caprice of every despot, they would. 

* Cret. vol. v. p. 158. 



334 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



have earned the applause and the eulogy of every 
noble and generous soul. 

However, Pombal had not as yet acquired that un- 
limited power which he afterwards attained, and did 
not dare, or was not able, to strike the blow he was 
meditating against the Society, and was obliged to be 
contented to prepare the . way for their ruin. But 
an event soon occurred w T hich rendered him absolute 
master of the destinies of Portugal, and left him at 
liberty to deal with the Jesuits as he pleased. 

On the 1st of November 1755, an earthquake de- 
stroyed three-fourths of Lisbon. A conflagration added 
to the desolation, and, that nothing might be wanting 
in this scene of horrors, an armed band of brigands 
preyed in open day on the unfortunate victims of the 
direful calamity. Discouragement and despair had seized 
on the boldest. The courtiers insisted that the court 
should emigrate to Oporto, and the king and the royal 
family ardently desired to leave the desolate Lisbon 
Pombal alone refused to let them depart. " The king's 
place," said he to Joseph, " is in the midst of his people; 
let us bury the dead, and take thought for the living." * 
Under appalling and difficult circumstances, the power 
belongs to the most energetic. Pombal seized on the 
helm of the state as his right, declared himself prime 
minister, and, unaided and alone, prepared to conquer 
all the difficulties with which Portugal was at this moment 
threatened. There was something of antique greatness 
in the courage which Pombal displayed that excited 
general astonishment. f In fact, he was everywhere; 
he thought about everything ; he provided for every 
emergency ; and soon, by his unequalled energy, a 
new town • sprung up on the ruins of the ancient 
capital. 

And now Pombal, having attained a position which 
permitted him to attempt everything, thought of 
putting in execution the two great projects he had 
* St Priest, p. 9. f Ibid, 



DOWNFALL OF THE JESUITS. 



335 



conceived — the subjection of the aristocracy, and the 
expulsion of the Jesuits from Portugal. He had 
already published a number of edicts to restrain the 
power and humiliate the pride of the nobility, against 
whom he had conceived a great hatred, for the scorn 
they had offered him in refusing to admit him among 
them. And now the turn of the Jesuits had come. 
On the morning of the 19th September 1757, without 
any new motive or circumstance having determined 
the proceeding, he removed from the court the three 
Jesuit confessors, and assigned to the royal penitents 
three ordinary priests. This first act of enmity was 
immediately followed by manifestoes which soon inun- 
dated Europe, in which the premier brought against 
the Jesuits several terrible accusations. Then, to coun- 
tenance his accusations, Pombal applied to the Pope, as 
ecclesiastical chief of these monks, and in his com- 
plaint he gave especial prominence to that which was 
most calculated to displease and provoke the censure 
of the Court of Pome. He represented to the Holy 
See that the great mercantile operations of the Society 
impeded the accomplishment of his commercial plans 
and the promotion of the national prosperity, and 
asked for a prompt and efficient measure to put a stop 
to it. The chair of St Peter was at that time occu- 
pied by the amiable, learned, and upright Lambertini. 
Benedict XIV. did not hesitate a moment to comply 
with Pombal's desires, and committed the visitation of 
the Order to Cardinal Saldanha, a very intimate friend 
of the minister. 

Before we proceed further, we think it necessary in 
this place to give our readers some general idea of the 
commercial operations of the Society. 

The large donations which, at the commencement of 
the institution, had enriched the Society, having be- 
come less frequent, the Jesuits thought of increasing 
their wealth by applying themselves to trade. They 
pretended that there was no material difference be- 



336 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



tween the practice of agriculture, which had formed 
the principal occupation of the first monastic orders, 
and the labour of commerce in which they were en- 
gaged. The Collegio Romano possessed a manufac- 
tory of cloth at Macerata, and though at first they 
produced it only for their own use, yet they soon pro- 
ceeded to supply all the other colleges in the provinces, 
and ultimately the public in general, for which last 
purpose they attended the fairs. From the close con- 
nexion existing between the different colleges, there 
resulted a system of banking business; and the Portu- 
guese ambassador at Rome was empowered to draw on 
the Jesuits of Portugal. Their commercial transactions 
were particularly prosperous in the colonies. The 
trading connexion of the order extended, as it were, a 
network over both continents, having Lisbon for its 
central point.* Such is the account given by our con- 
temporary historian. We shall now quote the opinion 
of an eye-witness, a man high in power in India, and 
who could certainly have had the best information 
regarding the facts. M. Martin, general commander 
of Pondicherry, expresses himself thus : — 

" It is certain that, after the Dutch, the Jesuits are 
the largest and the richest traders in India, richer even 
than the English, than the Portuguese themselves, who 

have brought them there Those disguised Jesuits 

intrigue everywhere. The secret correspondence they 
keep up amongst themselves, apprises them of the 
merchandises that ought to be bought or sold, and to 
what nation, in order to make a more considerable 
profit ; so that those disguised Jesuits are of immense 
advantage to the Society, and are only responsible to 
the Order represented by other Jesuits, who overrun 
the world under the true habit of St Ignatius, and who 
possess the confidence, the secrets, and the orders of 
their chiefs in Europe. Those Jesuits, disguised and 
dispersed all over the earth, know each other by sig- 

* Ranke, vol. ii. p. 392. 



DOWNFALL OF THE JESUITS. 



337 



nals, like the freemasons, and act all upon the same 
plan. They send merchandise to other disguised Je- 
suits, who, having the goods from first hand, realise 
considerable profits for the order. However, this 
traffic is highly prejudicial to the interest of France. 
I have often written about it to the Company (of 
India), but under Louis XIV. I have received orders 
very precise, and often repeated, to grant and advance 
to those fathers all that they may ask. And Father 
Tashard alone owes at this moment more than 450,000 
francs to the Company (of India)."* We have reported 
this document, because it was considered at the time, 
even in Rome, and by the Papal Court, as of great 
importance, and as representing the real state of 
things. 

In the West Indies, J esuits were to be found in all 
the markets with different kinds of produce ; and this 
they do not even attempt to deny, but excuse them- 
selves by saying that " the ecclesiastical law has never 
forbidden the sale of the produce of one's own domains. 
The J esuits were the guardians of the Christians, whom 
they had reunited in society in Paraguay ; and in con- 
sideration of the inability of these savages to manage 
their own affairs, many Spanish kings granted to the 
missionaries the right of selling the produce of the 
ground cultivated by the neophytes, as well as that of 
their own industry f The Jesuits had so well used 
this liberty of trading, that the largest banking houses 
in South America belonged to the Company, and one 
of them $ alone became bankrupt for more than two 
millions and a half of francs, an enormous sum at the 
epoch. 

Nor had they been less busy and active speculators 
in Europe. In Malta, in the year 1639, during a 
famine, the Jesuits, who had five thousand sacks of 



* Voyage de Duquesne Chef d'escadre, torn. xxxv. p. 15 e 
+ Cret. vol. v. p. 171. $ Lavallette. 



338 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



corn in their granaries, in order that they might not 
be obliged to give it up to the government at a lower 
price than they expected for it, applied to the Grand 
Master Lascaris for succour to their actual necessities, 
and were relieved, on account of their supposed poverty, 
from the public storehouse. But the trick was at last 
discovered, and they were expelled from the island. 
But we could not adduce stronger proofs of their 
eagerness to accumulate wealth than the letters of 
Vitelleschi, Caraffa, and Nickel, some passages of 
which we have reported, in which they bitterly com- 
plain of that spirit of avarice and speculation which 
had pervaded all the classes of Jesuits, and which they 
vainly deprecated. 

To return to our narrative; Saldanha, either to 
satisfy the impatience of Pombal, or because the proofs 
of the Jesuits' guilt were too numerous and too clear, 
soon published a decree severely reprobating the com- 
mercial pursuits of the order, and empowering the 
royal authorities to confiscate all merchandise belong- 
ing to those ecclesiastics.* 

But, in the meanwhile, the man who had ordered 
the visitation, and to whom belonged the ultimate de- 
cision, Lambertini (Benedict XIV.), had departed from 
this world. Had God granted him a longer life, he 
would probably have taken energetic and decisive 
measures against the order ; and any other pontiff 
than the one who succeeded him, would in all likeli- 
hood, in one way or another, have given satisfaction 
to the public opinion. But, unfortunately perhaps 
for the Jesuits, Benedict XIV. was succeeded by a 
man wholly blinded in their favour, who declared 
that, to the last, he would be the protector and the 
friend of " the holy Company of Jesus/' This man 
was Raggonico, who assumed the name of Clement 
XIII. He was pure in soul, and upright in purpose. 
He was constantly engaged in fervent prayer, and his 

* Ranke, vol. vii. p. 443. 



DOWNFALL OF THE JESUITS. 



339 



highest ambition was to obtain a canonisation. But 
he was a bigoted fanatic — was convinced that the 
power of the Papacy should be unlimited ; and in the 
Jesuits he beheld the most faithful defenders of the 
Papal See and of religion. But, besides the disposi- 
tion of the Pope in their favour, the Jesuits had, in 
the Court of Rome, a still more efficient supporter in 
the person of Cardinal Torrigiani, in whose hand 
actually resided all the power. " He had the reputa- 
tion," says Panke, " of taking a personal interest in 
the farming of the papal revenues, and was said to be 
generally fond of power for its own sake."* It is, then, 
easy to be conceived that the Jesuits, in order to pre- 
serve the bulk of their wealth, did not hesitate to 
sacrifice a part to satiate the avidity of the cardinal ; 
and that to this is to be attributed the partiality, we 
should say the servility, evinced by Torrigiani towards 
the order. But this partiality of the Pope and his 
minister proved fatal to the Company. Had they 
consented to effect some substantial reforms, the So- 
ciety might yet have existed for some time longer, or 
at least have only perished in the general shipwreck 
produced by the French Revolution, and they would 
not have had pronounced upon them the terrible and 
crushing sentence of Clement XIV. 

Pombal perceived at once that no hope could be 
entertained that such a Pope would co-operate in the 
suppression, or even in the reform and abasement of 
the Jesuits, but did not, for that reason, renounce his 
projects ; he only waited for a more fitting moment to 
effect his purpose by his own authority. 

Circumstances served PombaFs designs better than 
he could have expected. Joseph I. had an intimacy 
with Dona Theresa, the young wife of the Marquis of 
Tavora, one of the noblest families in Portugal, and 
one which, having scorned Pombal's alliance, was par- 
ticularly hated by him. Now it happened, on the 

* Ranke, vol. ii. p. 444. 



340 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



night of the 3d of September 1758, that the king, 
returning to the palace from a visit to Dona Theresa, 
was wounded in the arm by a pistol-shot fired upon 
him. Next morning the court presented an unusual 
aspect. The gates of the palace were shut ; the king 
did not make his appearance, and nobody knew ex- 
actly what was the cause of these strange measures. 
It was indeed whispered that an attempt had been 
made upon the king's person ; but nobody dared to 
speak it aloud, or knew to what extent it was true. 
The courtiers were all taciturn and in consternation. 
Pombal alone appeared calm and serene. This state 
of things lasted for some days. At last this anxiety 
was by degrees dispelled, and, a few weeks after, 
nobody thought any more about the attempt, and 
many doubted whether it had ever occurred. But 
on the 12th of September, the Duke of Averio, of the 
family of Mascarenhas, who, with Tavora, was at the 
head of the Portuguese aristocracy, the Marquis of 
Tavora, Dona Eleanor, his mother, and many of their 
relations and servants, were suddenly arrested and 
thrown into prison. Our limits will not admit of our ex- 
amining whether or not the prisoners were culpable, or 
in what degree. It seems most probable that the young 
Marquis of Tavora may have attempted to avenge his 
injured honour ; and indeed there is every reason to 
believe that some of the prisoners arrested were really 
accomplices of the crime ; but, as the trial was not 
public, as it was conducted by an exceptional tribunal 
la inconfidenza, and as Pombal has never substan- 
tiated, by valid proofs, the accusation brought against 
them, it would be harsh to form any decided judgment. 
What is incontestable is, that all forms of justice were 
violated in the trial, and that the cruel and inhuman 
way in which the unfortunate prisoners were tortured 
and executed, would induce us to believe that this 
sacrifice of human life was offered rather to revenge 
than to justice. In the night of 12th of January 1759, 



DOWNFALL OF THE JESUITS. 



341 



a scaffold, eighteen feet high, was erected on the 
square of Belem, fronting the Tagus. At daybreak, 
this open space was filled with soldiers and the popu- 
lace, and even the river was covered with spectators. 
The servants of the Duke of Averio appeared first 
upon the platform, and were fastened to one of the 
corners to be burned alive. The Marchioness of 
Tavora then ascended the scaffold with a rope 
around her neck, and a crucifix in her hand. She was 
scantily clad in some tattered clothes, but her whole 
figure and demeanour were stamped with firmness and 
dignity. The executioner, in attempting to bind her 
feet, accidentally raised the hem of her robe. " Stop ! " 
cried she, " forget not who I am ; touch me only to 
kill me." The executioner fell on his knees before 
Dona Eleanor, and begged her to pardon him, where- 
upon she drew a ring from her finger, and said, 
" Here ; I have nothing but this in the world ; take it, 
and do your duty." This courageous woman then laid 
her head upon the block, and received her death-blow. 
Her husband, her sons, the youngest of whom was not 
twenty years of age, her son-in-law, and several 
servants, perished after her in frightful torments. 
The Duke of Averio was led forward the last ; he was 
fastened to the wheel, his body covered with rags, 
and his arms and thighs naked. Thus was he broken 
alive, not expiring till after he had endured protract- 
ed tortures, making the square and the neighbourhood 
re-echo with frightful cries. At length the machine 
was set on fire, and presently wheel, scaffold, bodies, 
all, were burned and cast into the Tagus.* Even if 
the sentence had been just, the merciless cruelty 
which Pombal shewed in accomplishing its execution 
has greatly tarnished his fame, and diminished the 
admiration due to his other eminent services ren- 
dered to Portugal. 

Meanwhile, on the night which preceded the exe- 

* St Priest, p. 12. 



342 



HISTOBY OF THE JESUITS. 



cution of the prisoners, the house of the Jesuits was 
invested, their chiefs were cast into prison, and three 
of them, Mattos, Alexander, and Malagrida, accused of 
having fomented the conspiracy. With what degree 
of truth this accusation was brought against them, it is 
also difficult to say. According to the sentence passed 
upon them, the suspicions of their having participated 
therein were confirmed by their arrogance previous to 
the attempt, and their desponding after its failure ; by 
their intimate connexion with the chief of the accused 
(D'Averio), with whom they had formerly been at 
variance; by a conversation reported of Father Conta, 
who, it seems, had declared that a man who should 
murder the king would not be guilty of even a venial 
sin. Their intercourse with the conspirators was 
indeed unquestionable. They had been their friends 
and advisers, and had taken a decided part in the 
discontent, murmurs, and open opposition of the Fidal- 
goes.* But no other material proof was brought to 
confirm the charge, and although the three accused 
were condemned to suffer the highest punishment, the 
sentence was not executed. Malagrida, who some time 
after was burned, suffered for the crime of heresy, 
not for that of regicide. Whatever opinion our 
readers may form of the Jesuits' guilt or innocence, 
Pombal, in his manifestoes, represented them as guilty, 
and called for the animadversion of Europe upon 
them, while he himself was taking more decisive 
measures to destroy the order. 

As in Portugal, up to that moment, to the nuncio 
alone belonged the right of pronouncing judgment 
upon ecclesiastics, Pombal, although he had already 
resolved to transfer that right to a commission named 
by the sovereign, thought proper to solicit the Pope 
for a nominal authorisation ; and as Clement's answer 
did not come quick enough for the minister's impatience, 
he, on 1st of September 1759, issued a decree for the 

* St Priest, p. 13. 



DOWNFALL OF THE JESUITS. 



343 



expulsion of the Jesuits from all the states of his most 
faithful majesty. All the bishops of Portugal received 
a. command to take the office of instruction out of the 
hands of the Jesuits, and supersede them instantly in 
the universities of Coimbra and elsewhere ; and imme- 
diately after, all the Jesuits residing in Portugal were 
put on board royal and merchant vessels, and shipped 
over into Italy ; * similar orders were given to the 
governors of all the Portuguese colonies, and imme- 
diately executed. 

This was the first blow dealt to the Society of Jesus; 
and, as if it had been a signal, it was followed by a 
succession, till Ganganelli dealt it the last and mortal 
one. It seemed as if before no one had dared to attack 
such a powerful colossus : but when once the people 
saw with what facility it could be attacked, and even 
conquered, every one wished to break a spear upon it. 
France, as was to be expected, struck the second blow. 
When the minds of men were once bent upon it, any 
pretext would have been sufficient to expel the Jesuits; 
and it requires no great insight to perceive that the 
apparent causes which led to this step were only 
secondary. It is true that Madame de Pompadour, 
the king's mistress, had resolved upon their de- 
struction; but, although it is well known that she 
harassed the king to obtain it, it is by no means cer- 
tain that Louis yielded to her influence alone, and we 
doubt much that she would have been able to effect 
it at all, had she lived a hundred years before. It 
seems that the Jesuit confessors of the marchioness 
and the king refused, we do not know for what rea- 
sons, to absolve them, unless the lady should quit 
the court. She herself has transmitted to us a long 

* Fifteen hundred of these monks landed at Civita Vecchia. It was a 
pitiful sight to behold some of those very old priests torn from the place 
where they had spent their lives, and thrown upon a foreign land. Even 
the Dominicans, their constant opponents, were touched with compassion, 
and received them kindly ; and they have perpetuated the memory of 
this act of generosity by an inscription on stone. 



344 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



recital of her negotiations with the confessor;* and 
when she could not bring him to her wishes, she 
vowed a mortal hatred against the Society, which, 
however, remained for some years without result. 

But in 1761 a more decisive occasion was offered to 
the enemies of the order to ask for their expulsion. 
Father Lavallette, the Superior General of Martinique 
— a bold and unscrupulous speculator, a priest who, by 
their own confession, began to operate not only on the 
produce of the goods belonging to the house, but who 
purchased large properties, and bought tivo thousand 
slaves to work them — was the means of creating this 
occasion.f He entered into vast and complicated 
speculations with different maritime towns of Europe ; 
and as some of these speculations failed, he stopped 
payment — a measure which caused the ruin of several 
houses, among which were one of Lyons and another 
of Marseilles. 

The house of Marseilles, Leoncy, held the Society 
responsible for the debt of its member, and applied to 
the General for payment. Ricci, the then chief of 
the order 4 committed the irreparable error of refusing 
to recognise the debt. The Widow Grrou & Son, of 
Nantez, then commenced a process before the consular 
tribunal of Paris. Leoncy followed the example. The 
Jesuits having been condemned, were blind enough to 
bring the cause before the parliament. This supreme 
court of judicature, the better to estimate the merit of 
the cause, ordered that the Constitutions of the Society 
should be brought before the tribunal. The J esuits 
consented, and this decided their ruin. After prolonged 
examination, the parliament gave its judgment, by 
which the Society was condemned to pay all the en- 
gagements incurred by Lavallette, for which, accord- 

* See it reported in St Priest, p. 21, and following, 
f Cret. vol. v. p. 236. 

% Three generals, Retz, Visconti, and Centurioni, had, after Tam- 
"bourini, governed the Society ; and the 19th General Congregation, named 
Lorenzo Ricci, who was the 18th General before the suppression. 



DOWNFALL OF THE JESUITS. 



345 



ing to the tenor of their Constitution, the whole order 
was answerable.* 

Many authors, speaking of this affair, have expressed 
their astonishment that the Jesuits, who were accounted 
so cunning, could have committed such blunders. We 
have nothing to answer to this, except that they may 
be compared to those generals who, having lost their 
presence of mind in a difficult and critical moment, have 
suffered defeat by committing errors that a simple non- 
commissioned officer would never have been guilty of ; 
or they may be compared perhaps to those consummate 
criminals who, having long eluded the vigilance of the 
police with extraordinary dexterity, at last commit 
such blunders, that one could almost swear they con- 
spired for their own capture. Or it would be more 
correct to say that God had numbered their days, 
and their hour was come. Quern Deus vult perdere 
prius dementat. 

From the moment when the Constitutions of this 
mysterious and dread Society were brought to light, 
Constitutions which had been kept jealously secret, 
all minor quest* ons disappeared. Father Lavallette, 
the bankrupt, the bankers (who were never paid), all 
were forgotten in the great question affecting the 
Society itself. " Dogmatic disputes, which had so 
long been forgotten, now resumed all the force of pre- 
sent interest, and all the attraction of novelty. There 
was a universal eagerness to discover and apply those 
mysterious Constitutions. Women, and even children, 
were animated with the ardour of old practised law- 
yers. Pascal became the idol of the day, and La 
Chalatois its hero."f Innumerable writings were daily 
printed and read with the greatest avidity by all 

* The debts of Lavallette amounted to 2,400,000 francs; but Cretineau 
assures us that the houses and lands belonging to the Company were 
bought by English capitalists for the sum of four millions of francs ! Did 
not the J esuits well observe the vows of poverty, this bulwark of reli- 
gion? 

i St Priest, p. 27. 



346 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



classes of persons ; and for a while nothing else was 
spoken of but the Society of Jesuits. 

In these circumstances, fifty-one French bishops, 
under the presidency of the Cardinal of Luynes, as- 
sembled, and, after a prolonged examination of the 
Constitutions, declared that the unlimited obedience 
that the General residing in Rome was empowered 
to exact from every member, was incompatible with 
the laws of the kingdom, and with the general duties 
of the subject to his sovereign. Now the opponents 
of the Jesuits, and Madame de Pompadour at their 
head, pressed upon the king to take a decisive mea- 
sure. Louis XV. was an indolent profligate, whose 
chief characteristic was the love and veneration of 
himself. Provided royalty did not perish in his 
own person, he cared little what should become of 
it after his death. He had no liking for any person 
but those who could amuse him — a thing in his old 
age by no means easy. He cared nothing for the 
Jesuits, but he feared them. He was persuaded that 
they had been accomplices in the assassination of 
Henry III. and Henry IV. ; he had always before his 
eyes the poniard of Damiens, and attributed to the 
fathers both the will and the power to murder him. 
For this all-important reason, he resisted long all soli- 
citations to expel them from France, but he consented 
to address a request to the Pope to grant a reform, 
but to grant it immediately, and without hesitation or 
subterfuge. Choiseul himself prepared a plan of re- 
form, which, it may be said, centred in this prin- 
cipal point, namely, to propose to the General 
the appointment of a vicar-general for France, who 
was to fix his residence in that country, and pledge 
himself to render obedience to its laws — a measure 
which was in conformity with the statutes, since these 
authorised the General, in case of a great emergency, 
to name a vicar-general.* The fact of this most rea- 

* Ranke, vol. ii. p 447 ; St Priest, p. 29. 



DOWNFALL OF THE JESUITS. 



347 



sonable demand having been made, would of itself be a 
sufficient answer to the Jesuits and their partisans, who 
pretend that the destruction of the order was not the 
consequence of any of these misdemeanours, but that 
it had been planned long before between the Encyclo- 
paedists Choiseul and Pombal. Yet we shall adduce 
some further proofs to shew how unfounded their 
assertions are. 

Pombal, although he was executing some of the 
reforms called for by the Encyclopaedists, was no way 
connected with them, and he is perhaps the only man 
of mark of this epoch whom Voltaire has not favoured 
with a word of his inexhaustible correspondence. On 
the contrary, the Patriarch of Ferney often blames the 
marquis for his affected deference to the Pope and 
respect for religion, as well as for his cruelty, so dis- 
pleasing to the naturally humane heart of Voltaire. 
Choiseul was indeed for a time the friend of Pombal, 
and acted in concert with him in affairs of general 
policy. But Pombal was too haughty, he had too 
exaggerated an opinion of his own capacity, to act 
under or by the direction of any man whatever. Be- 
sides, the well-known character of Choiseul renders it 
altogether incredible that he could have been long and 
deeply engaged in a plot to expel the Jesuits from 
Europe. The duke was the type of the French gen- 
tilhommes of the eighteenth century. He possessed 
the incredulity, the grace, the vanity, the courage, 
and that levity which would have sacrificed the dear- 
est interests to the pleasure of an epigram, and which 
was so characteristic of the French noblesse in the 
former part of Louis XV/s reign. He was too frivo- 
lous to be capable of nourishing in his heart for years 
a deep scheme of malice ; nor did he honour or value 
the Jesuits enough to make them the object of a 
mortal enmity. On the contrary, with the Count of 
Kaunitz, the Austrian minister, he ridiculed the sort 
of passion with which the Marquis of Pombal perse- 



348 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



cuted the sons of Loyola. " Ce, Monsieur/' they 
would say, " a done toujours un Jesuite a cheval sur 
le nez."* 

However, it is evident that Choiseul could not be 
the man to protect the Jesuits: it is evident that, to 
please Madame de Pompadour, and to court public 
opinion, he must have shewn himself unfavourable to 
the fathers, and must have pursued them with his sar- 
casms. It is also certain that afterwards he became their 
enemy, not out of hatred, but rather to comply with 
Charles III.'s wishes, and in order to get rid of them, 
and that he used all his influence to have them expelled 
from France, and ultimately abolished. The duke ren- 
ders our assertions incontestable, when, in a memorial 
addressed to the king, after having reminded him that 
he had not been the man who had commenced the 
great measure of the expulsion of the Jesuits, he adds, 
" Your Majesty knows well that, although it has been 
said that I have laboured at the expulsion of the 
Jesuits, .... I have in no way, either at a distance 
or on the spot, either in public or in private, taken 
any step with this intent." And he finishes by saying, 
that only at a later period, after he had known them, 
he had become their enemy. When, then, the duke 
made application to Rome to obtain the nomination of 
a vicar-general who should reside in France, with 
authority independent of the General, he was person- 
ally indifferent in the question. 

It is well known what answer the General, Ricci, 
made to this application — " Sint ut sunt aut non sint," 
Let them be as they are, or be no longer. 

The parliament first abolished and suppressed all 
the congregations, those powerful engines of the 
order ; then, on the 6th of August 1762, it declared 
that the Institute of the Jesuits was opposed to all 
authority, spiritual and temporal, ecclesiastical and 

* State Papers and Manuscripts of the Duke of Choiseul. See Sfc 
i Priest, J). 18. 



DOWNFALL OF THE JESUITS. 



349 



civil, and was calculated to render them entirely 
independent of such authority by all sort of means, 
and even to favour their usurpation of the govern- 
ment; it therefore declared that the order should 
be irrevocably and for ever expelled from the king- 
dom.* In consequence of this decree, the eighty- 
four colleges of the Jesuits were shut up. The fathers 
were expelled from all their houses, their properties 
were confiscated ; f each individual, however, being al- 
lowed a small income from the public treasury, and 
being permitted for the moment to reside in France, 
separately, and as secular clergymen. This permis- 
sion was withdrawn two years after, and in 1764, the 
repugnance of Louis XV. having been overcome, the 
Jesuits were ordered to quit the French territories. 

But a more serious and unexpected calamity befel 
the Company only three years after. Till the present 
moment, the Jesuits and their partisans had boasted 
of their defeats and persecution, and had haughtily 
proclaimed in the face of the world that they were 
only persecuted by the philosophic spirit which had 
pervaded Europe, and which, its principal aim being 
the destruction of the Catholic religion, had begun by 
attacking its firmest bulwark — the Society of Jesus. 
Pombal and Choiseul were but the emissaries of Vol- 
taire; Joseph and Louis, indolent and voluptuous 
monarchs, entirely under the guidance and yoke of the 
two ministers. But what had they to say, now that 
they were going to be expelled from the dominions of 
a king not only adverse to the philosophers, not only 
a bigoted Roman Catholic, but, till the present moment, 
the friend and the protector of the Order ? What had 
they to say against this exemplary Christian, Charles 
III. of Spain, loyal, frank, virtuous, chaste, and irre- 

* See Ranke, vol. ii. p. 447 ; Cret. vol. v. p. 274. 

i* The property which the J esuits possessed in France was estimated 
at fifty-eight millions of francs ; but in that sum, says Cretineau, must 
not be included the alms which were given to the Maisons Professes. 
They possess fifty-eight millions, and ask for alms I Oh ! holy poverty ! 



350 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



proachable, as he was ? Narrow-minded, indeed, he 
may have been, but no less clear-sighted, active, and 
considerate ; self-willed rather than disposed to 
succumb to the influence of any person ; and if he can 
be reproached with anything, it were with the fault of 
having been rather partial to that nursery of monks 
and nuns which infested Spain, and for one or other 
of whom he was continually petitioning Rome for a 
canonisation. Yet this man, more than any other, 
contributed to the abolition of the order. 

The motives which induced Charles to take such a 
decided part in the destruction of the Society are not 
very well ascertained, and the two parties attribute it 
to different causes. We will try to throw some new 
light on this obscure affair. As every one, in the 
absence of proofs, has been obliged to have recourse 
to conjectures, we beg leave to give our own also. We 
begin by relating the facts. 

The long and ample cloaks, and the low, large- 
brimmed hats, worn at this epoch in Spain, served to 
facilitate the perpetration of many crimes, and to 
conceal the criminals. Squillace, the king's prime 
minister, by Charles's order, issued a proclamation 
prohibiting the use of them ; but the populace of 
Madrid broke out in insurrection, beseiged the minis- 
ter in his house, pulled it down, repulsed fhe Walloon 
guards which had marched against them, and obliged 
the king, whose exhortation they despised, to retire 
for the moment from Madrid. The revolt lasted for 
several days, when the Jesuits, mingling amongst the 
rioters, appeased them in a moment with the greatest 
facility. This revolt, which happened in 1766, is 
known in history as the Emeute des Chcqoecmx. 

This outbreak, which had no result, was entirely 
forgotten, when, on the 2d of April 1767, appeared a 
royal proclamation abolishing the Society of the Jesuits 
in the peninsula, and expelling them from the Spanish 
monarchy. Let the reader imagine the astonishment 



DOWNFALL OF THE JEStJITS. 



351 



which the proclamation produced throughout Europe, 
and the consternation and despair into which it threw 
the Jesuits. What had happened that could furnish a 
motive for such a harsh and most severe measure ? 
No sign of change had been the precursor of the 
storm ; no warning had been given to the Jesuits ; no 
signs of enmity had been shewn to them. The pro- 
clamation not only was silent as to the motives which 
had elicited it, but forbade every man to appreciate 
and discuss either the measure or its causes ; and this 
redoubled the astonishment and the curiosity. Let us 
try to penetrate this mystery. First of all we shall 
give the reasons which, according to the Marquis 
d'Ossun, French ambassador at the court of Madrid, 
were adduced to him by Charles himself, as having 
induced him to the suppression of the order. 

"Charles pledged his honour to the Marquis d'Ossun 
that he had never entertained any personal animosity 
against the Jesuits ; that, before the last conspiracy, he 
had even repeatedly refused to sanction any measures 
inimical to them. Notwithstanding that he had been 
warned by confidential advisers, on whose word he 
could rely, that, ever since 1759, the Jesuits had inces- 
santly traduced his government, his character, and 
even his faith ; his reply to these ministers had uni- 
formly been that he believed them to be either 
prejudiced or ill-informed. But the insurrection of 
1766 had opened the king's eyes ; Charles was con- 
vinced that several members of the Society had been 
arrested in the act of distributing money among the 
populace. After they had prepared the way by 
poisoning the minds of the citizens with insinuations 
against the government, the Jesuits only awaited the 
signal to spring the mine. The first opportunity was 
sufficient, and they were contentwith the most frivolous 
pretexts ; — in one instance, the form of a hat or cloak ; 
in another, the misconduct of an intendant, or the 
knavery of a corregidor. The attempt (the emeute of 



352 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



1766) failed, as the tumult had broken out on Pahr 
Sunday. The time fixed upon had been Holy Thurs* 
day, during the ceremonies of visiting the churches, 
when the king was to be surprised and surrounded at 
the foot of the cross. Such is the substance of the 
motives stated by the King of Spain to the Marquis 
d'Ossun, accompanied by a reiterated protest of the 
truth of what he had said, and, in proof of this, he 
appealed to judges and magistrates of the most incor- 
ruptible integrity ; he even reproached himself with 
having been too lenient to such a dangerous body, and 
then drawing a deep sigh, added, ' I have learned to 
know them too well/ " * 

These are the motives assigned for this conduct by 
the opponents of the Jesuits, and they rest, as may 
be seen, on very high authority. On the other hand, 
the Jesuits and their friends assert that the whole 
affair was an abominable and dishonourable plot of 
Choiseul. They pretend that the duke had managed 
to put into the hands of Charles an autograph letter 
supposed to be written by the General of the order to 
a provincial in Spain, in which it was asserted that 
Charles was an illegitimate son of Cardinal Alberoni, 
and that the throne belonged to Don Louis, the king's 
younger brother, and that it was this letter that excited 
the resentment of Charles. Cretineau affirms that 
such was the case. " Charles, who remained a fervent 
Christian, would not have destroyed the institute, 
but that they affixed upon his royal escutcheon 
the stigma of illegitimacy. . . . This fact is certified 
by other contemporary testimonies, and by the docu- 
ments of the Company." f Ranke, without accusing 
either party, seems to incline to this supposition, and 
says, * Charles III. became persuaded that it was one 
of the purposes of the Jesuits to raise bis brother Don 

* Despatches of the Marquis d'Ossun to the Duke of Choiseul. See 
St Priest, p. 34. " 
+ Cret. vol. v. p. 293. 



DOWNFALL OF THE JESUITS, 



353 



Louis to the throne in his place."* Now, rejecting 
the absurd accusation of the forgery of this letter, 
which many reasons render altogether impossible, and 
which is by no means consistent with the character of 
Choiseul, and adopting the version of Ranke or of 
Ossun, there still remains to be explained the enmity 
of the Jesuits against such a good Roman Catholic as 
Charles ; and this enmity, no historian, as far as we 
know, has ever attempted to explain. Yet this is the 
point most necessary to be examined ; because, unless 
we suppose that such a sagacious and clear-sighted 
man as Charles III., after a year of strict and severe 
investigation, came to the serious decision of con- 
demning the Jesuits solely on the authority of a 
forged letter, without any other proof of their ill* 
will to him, it remains certain that the Jesuits 
were guilty, and adverse to his person and govern- 
ment. Whence, we repeat, this enmity ? By consider- 
ing a little the well-known character of the Jesuits, we 
may perhaps be able to answer the query. 

Every one who directly, or indirectly even, opposes 
the wishes or the designs of the Society, is regarded as 
its mortal enemy, and every enemy must, by whatever 
means, be broken down. Charles, from/the beginning 
of his reign, had constantly insisted upon the canonisa- 
tion of Palafox, the abhorred opponent of the Society — 
first grief. Charles did not shew the Jesuits any par- 
ticular affection, and had protected and befriended 
them only as he did all other monastic orders — second 
grief. Charles would not submit as his predecessors 
had done to the influence of the fathers, and his con- 
fessor was of the order of the Dominicans, the ancient 
and implacable enemy of the Company — third and 
most serious grief. Now, if once it is admitted that 
the Jesuits had reason to dislike Charles, all is easily 
explained. Then no act of enmity on their part 
ought to surprise us. They would not have hesitated 

* Ranke, vol. ii. p. 448. 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



a moment to spread the report that Charles was a 
bastard, to raise a conspiracy, to excite the people to 
revolt, and to endeavour to supplant the king by his 
younger brother. Thus it becomes clear how Charles, 
after obtaining the proofs of their machinations, be- 
came furious against them ; and it may easily be con- 
ceived that, from pride and delicacy, he did not men- 
tion to the French ambassador, among the other 
causes of resentment against the Jesuits, that of their 
having slandered him as a bastard liable to be de- 
throned. This is the view we take of the matter, and 
we doubt if the conduct of Charles can be explained 
in any other plausible way. 

Such, in our opinion, were the motives which induced 
the pious King of Spain to expel the Jesuits from all 
his estates. The way in which this was accomplished 
was also most remarkable, and deserves to be men- 
tioned. Immediately after Vemeute cles chapeaux, 
which seems to have awakened Charles's suspicions, 
the proceedings against the Jesuits commenced, 
and were continued for a year with the greatest 
secrecy. D'Aranda, now the principal minister, con- 
ducted them. He neglected no precautions to insure 
the success of his plan. He took great care, above 
all, that the Court of Rome should have no suspicion 
of his projects. The king and his ministers admitted 
into their confidence only Don Manuel de Roda, an 
able jurist, and previously an agent of Spain in Rome. 
D'Aranda conferred with Monino and Campomanes, 
two very influential magistrates, in a singular and 
romantic manner. They repaired separately and 
unknown to one another, to a kind of ruined house, 
worked alone, communicating afterwards only with 
the prime minister, who either transcribed himself 
their informations or intrusted them to his page, who 
was too young to be mistrusted. Those informations 
the minister carried himself to the king.* Kotwith- 
* St Priest, p. 35. 



DOWNFALL OF THE JESUITS. 



355 



standing these precautions, it seems the Jesuits were 
not altogether ignorant that some strange measures 
were contemplated against them. In fact, it would 
have been almost incredible that a judicial investiga- 
tion, although surrounded with mystery and secrecy, 
in which many persons, no matter of what measure of 
discretion, were interrogated, could have been so con- 
ducted that not a word should have come to the ears 
of the fathers. They certainly were ignorant of the 
real state of things, and were perhaps far from sus- 
pecting the calamity impending over their heads. 
But what proves that they must have had some inti- 
mation of what was going on, is, that some short time 
before their expulsion they had requested of the king 
the confirmation of their privileges, and had removed 
their papers and their money.* 

When all measures were ready, despatches were 
sent from Madrid to all the governors of all the 
Spanish possessions of Africa, Asia, America, and 
throughout all the peninsula. These despatches, 
signed by the king, and counter-signed by D'Aranda, 
were sealed with three seals. On the second envelop 
was written, " Under pain of death, you shall not open 
this despatch but on the 2d April 1767, towards the 
closing of the day."f The orders to be executed in 
the different places, on the 2d of April, were all of the 
same tenor. The alcaldes were enjoined, on the severest 
penalties (Cretineau says on pain of death), immediately 
to enter the establishments of the Jesuits armed, to 
take possession of them, to expel the Jesuits from their 
convents, and to transport them within twenty-four 
hours as prisoners to such ports as were designated. 
The fathers were to embark instantly, leaving their 
papers under seal, gud carrying away with them only 
a breviary, a purse, and some apparel. J The orders 

* See in Ranke, vol. ii. p. 447, a note, where he quotes a passage of a 
MS. 

t Cret. vol. v. p. 29C. 
t St Priest, p. 36; Cret. vol. v. p. 29?. 



356 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



were executed everywhere with the utmost rigour, and 
six thousand Jesuits were very soon floating at the 
same time on the waste ocean on their way to the 
coast of Italy. 

Charles had not notified his intentions either to the 
French Court, the indiscretion of whose minister he 
feared, or to the Court of Rome, which he knew would 
thwart the measure with all its might. Neither of 
these courts was informed of the fact till after it was 
accomplished. When the news reached Rome, the old 
and infirm Clement XIII. shed a flood of tears. His 
spirits were broken down by the misfortunes that had 
befallen his Jesuits. Already, after their expulsion 
from France, he had declared that the decree which 
banished them was null and void, adding, " We repel 
the grave injury offered to the Church and to the Holy 
See, and we declare in the plenitude of our certain 
knowledge, certa scientia, that the institution of the 
Jesuits is in the highest degree pious and holy."* In 
the present circumstances he again attempted to shel- 
ter the children of his predilection under the mantle 
of his infallibility, and addressed to the King of Spain 
a brief, in which we read as follows : " Of all the mis- 
fortunes that have afflicted us during the nine years of 
our unhappy pontificate, the most sensible to our 
paternal heart has been that inflicted by the hand of 
your Majesty. So you, too, my son, tu quoque fill mi, 
so the Catholic King Charles III., who is so dear to our 
heart, fills up the chalice of our suffering, condemns 
our old age to a torrent of tears, and precipitates us 
into the grave. The pious Spanish king , . . . thinks 
of destroying an institution so useful, so meritorious 
for the Church, and which owes its origin and its 
splendour to those saints and heroes whom God chose 
in the Spanish nation for His greater glory " (this 

rather savours of Jesuit composition) " We call 

God and men to witness, that the Society is not only 

* Cret. vol. v. p. 284. 



DOWNFALL OF THE JESUITS. 



357 



innocent of all crime, but that it is pious, useful, holy, 
in its pursuits, in its laws, in its maxims"* Charles 
answered that he alone knew the crimes of the Society, 
and that he would keep them concealed in his own 
breast, to spare Christendom a great scandal, f Cle- 
ment returned to his tears, and this was all that was 
left him to do in favour of his children. 

However, there was a man in Rome who would not 
witness the ruin of the Company of Jesus without 
attempting a desperate effort to save it. This man 
was Ricci. the General. Ricci was a morose, obstinate, 
and narrow-minded bigot, extremely jealous of his 
authority, and altogether incapable of appreciating 
either circumstances or persons. Unlike Acquaviva, 
he placed all his glory in never yielding an inch of 
ground; and to partial loss, he preferred an entire 
ruin. Acquaviva would have by some timely conces- 
sion deferred for a while the impending storm. Ricci 
accelerated its march by his intractability. " Let 
them be as they are, or not at all" — these words 
shew the man. And now that his disciples were 
expelled from a part of Europe, he, to save the So- 
ciety, if possible, decided upon sacrificing some thou- 
sands of individuals. Either the persecution, which he 
studied to render more cruel, and in some measure 
effective, would bring the Pope, the other sovereigns, 
or the different populations, to some acts of energy, to 
retrieve the affairs of the order, or it must incur the 
last distressful consequences. He would submit to 
every extremity rather than to humiliation. In con- 
sequence, he obliged Torrigiani, whom he seems to have 
kept under a severe yoke (if the Cardinal received, 
or had received money, we can understand it), to 
write to the Spanish minister that his Holiness would 
not permit the Jesuits to land on his estates. Charles 
paid little attention to the letter, and gave orders to 

* See it in Cretineau, vol. v. p. 301. 



358 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



the commander of the fleet to land them, if necessary, 
by force of arms. 

Torrigiani obeyed Ricci's injunction to the letter. 
When after some days' sailing the first vessels arrived 
before Civita Vecchia, they were received by cannon 
shot. The poor Jesuits, who thought they were near 
the end of their sufferings, and had smiled at the 
sight of the promised land, were furious when they 
saw themselves rejected from a country in which they 
knew that their General had the utmost influence, 
and loudly accused him of being the author of all 
their miseries. The Spanish commander, not wishing 
to employ violence, and to land by force of arms, 
coasted away towards Leghorn and Genoa, but there 
too they were refused a landing. A similar fate was 
reserved for them on their first approach to Corsica; 
and only after having been for six long months at the 
mercy of the winds and waves, were those unfortu- 
nate monks, decimated by illness, fatigue, and old age, 
permitted to disembark in Corsica, lately ceded by 
Genoa to France, and where Paoli at that same 
moment had begun to fight for independence. 

The King of Naples and the Duke of Parma, both 
of the house of Bourbon, the former in the month of 
November 1767, the latter in the beginning of 1768, 
resorted to the same measures as France and Spain, 
and the Jesuits were expelled from their estates. 

At the news of these repeated outrages, as he con- 
sidered them, the old Pope, driven to extremities, 
and instigated by the Jesuits, resolved on an act of 
vigour, to test what the Supreme Pontiff could do for 
the sons of his predilection. It seems that he could not 
summon courage enough to strike the blow against 
France, Spain, or Naples, but he thought he could 
dare anything against the Duke of Parma. He did 
not view him in the light of a grandson of France and. 
infant of Spain, but as a Farnese. over whose dukedom 
the Roman See had always, if not exercised, at least 



DOWNFALL OF THE JESUITS, 



359 



claimed, the right of suzerainty. In this persuasion, 
he published a " monitorium," wherein he pronounced 
ecclesiastical censures against his vassal, and de- 
clared that he had forfeited his estates. Charles and 
Louis were aghast at the boldness of the old Pope, 
and although the indolent Louis shewed no great re- 
solution to resent the insult, Choiseul and Charles 
contrived to stir up his indignation, representing to 
him the scorn which would fall on the house of Bour- 
bon, if a son of a Venetian merchant (Clement) should 
insult with impunity a grandson of St Louis.* In con- 
sequence, the ambassadors of the three courts, France, 
Spain, and Naples, had orders to present to the Pope 
a memorial, asking him to revoke the " monitorium," 
or to expect to see some of his estates confiscated. 
Torrigiani and the Jesuit partisans, who knew the 
demand that was going to be addressed to the Pope, 
fearing lest the old man should yield, represented to 
him how glorious it would be to uprear again the 
tiara, humbled by Benedict XIV., before the secular 
powers, and made him even descry in the distance 
the crown of martyrdom, an honour which the enthu- 
siastic and pious Pope would have wished above all 
things. Clement accordingly, when the ambassadors 
presented themselves for the appointed audience, would 
hardly deign to look at the memorial ; and when they 
spoke of reprisals, his whole frame trembled, and he 
exclaimed, in a broken voice — " The Vicar of Jesus 
Christ is treated like the lowest of mankind. True 
that he has neither armies nor cannon, and it is an 
easy matter to despoil him of all his possessions ; but it 
is beyond the power of man to compel him to act 
against his conscience." f 

The moment this answer was made known to the 
monarchs, the troops of the French king seized on 
Avignon, those of the King of Naples on Pontecorvo 

* St Priest, p. 43. 

+ See Wi Priest, p. 45 ; Cret. vol. v. p. 312. 



360 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



and Benevento, all possessions belonging to the 
Roman states. 

At such distressful news the poor Pope was over- 
come by grief, and perceiving that he was unable to 
offer any material resistance, resolved to endure 
patiently those injuries, but not to yield to threaten- 
ing ; and he remained firm in his determination, al- 
though the Romans loudly murmured against him, 
and menaced and offered insult to the Jesuit party 
as the sole cause of the public calamities. The Pope's 
position became more and more desperate every day, 
and he did not know that he had a single friend 
left. To whom could he now turn for aid ? Genoa, 
Modena, Venice, nay, all the Italian states, took part 
against him. Once more he directed his eyes towards 
Austria. He wrote to the Empress Maria Theresa, 
that she was his only consolation on earth ; she would 
surely not permit that his old age should be oppressed 
by acts of violence.* But the empress answered him 
that the affair was one concerning not religion, but 
state policy, and that she could not interfere without 
injustice. 

Nor was this the greatest affliction reserved for the 
old pontiff. While Clement was so overwhelmed by 
grief, in the beginning of 1769 the ambassadors of 
France, Spain, and Naples presented themselves, one 
after the other, before him, and demanded the irrevo- 
cable suppression of the whole Order of the Jesuits. 
The Pope, on hearing the proposal, was stupified, and 
remained for some time speechless. When he had 
recovered some composure, he answered, in a broken 
and faltering voice, that he would soon make known 
his intentions, and called a consistory for the 3d of 
February. But on the evening preceding the day on 
which that consistory was to assemble, he was seized 
with a convulsion, in which he expired-! The Jesuits 
have extolled the virtues and the holiness of this Pope 

* Ranke, vol. ii. p. 448. + Ibid. 



DOWNFALL OF THE JESUITS. 



361 



to the skies, and consider him as the best friend the 
order ever had ; while the philosophers, in their spe- 
culations, have attributed to him the ultimate ruin of 
the Society, on account of his obstinate resistance to 
the demands of reform. 

Canova has immortalised the memory of Rizzonico 
by the most beautiful of all the monuments which have 
a place in St Peter's. Strangers go there to admire 
the chaste and pure figure of religion weeping over 
his tomb, the majestic dignity of the vigilant lion, 
the imposing calmness of the sleeping one, and the 
admirable execution of the whole group. 

With Clement XIII. the Popes lost all independence 
as secular princes, and, as such, have been ever after 
at the mercy of the strongest secular power that has 
wished to domineer over them. 



362 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

1773. 

ABOLITION OF THE ORDER. 

After the death of Clement XIII., all the influence 
of the house of Bourbon was employed to secure that 
the choice of the College of Cardinals should fall on a 
man adverse to the Company of Jesus, as all the efforts 
of the members of that body were directed to bring 
about the contrary result. While D'Aubeterre, the 
French ambassador, speaking also in the name of 
Spain and Naples, was reiterating that an election con- 
trary to the wishes of the house of Bourbon would 
lead to the ruin of the Boman See, thus endeavouring 
to intimidate the more pusillanimous of the cardinals, 
Bicci was hurrying about from place to place, implor- 
ing the one, threatening the others with the wrath of 
God, and freely distributing presents and money when 
necessary. At daybreak he was on foot, traversing 
every quarter of the city, and mixing with all classes of 
the people. He visited their eminences, their confessors, 
their varlets, not omitting some of the fashionable 

ladies, the spiritual friends of the Emminen- 

tissimi ! He and Torrigiani gave out, and repeated 
with great indignation and affected dignity, that it would 
be to the eternal shame and confusion of the Sacred 
College to renounce their independence, and submit to 
the demands of the imperious sovereigns. 

The Court of Borne was divided at the time 



ABOLITION OF THE ORDER. 



363 



into two parties ; — the Zelanti, who laboured to main- 
tain all the privileges of the Church in their integrity 
and full extent ; and the Regalisti, or the adherents of 
the crowns, who considered that the welfare of the 
Church must be sought in wise conciliation. Thirteen 
days after Clement's demise, the Conclave assembled, 
and the Zelanti, notwithstanding D'Aubeterre's in- 
sinuations and menaces, attempted to electa Pope before 
the arrival of the French and Spanish cardinals. They 
nearly succeeded in their attempt, Cardinal Ghigi, 
one of them, having missed his nomination only 
by two votes. Then the struggle for the nomi- 
nation began again more seriously. Choiseul, and still 
more than he, Charles III., being determined on the 
abolition of the Jesuits, were resolved not to give their 
assent to the election of a Pope, unless they should 
have a good assurance that he would abolish the 
Society. The French and Spanish ambassadors in 
Home, and above all, the French and Spanish cardi- 
nals, were ordered to endeavour to effect this result. 
But the person to whom was assigned, by the Bour- 
bons, the most prominent part in the Conclave, was 
Cardinal de Bernis. Bernis was a man endowed with 
many noble qualities, but vain, ostentatious, and de- 
voured above all with the desire of playing a conspi- 
cuous part. He had been first minister of Louis XV., 
had been supplanted by his protege Choiseul, who 
sent him back to his Bishopric of Alby, and who now 
intrusted to him the delicate mission of choosing a 
successor to St Peter. We say choosing, because, to 
flatter his vanity, Choiseul told him that such would 
certainly be his mission, and the cardinal entered the 
Conclave fully convinced that on him alone rested the 
choice of the future pontiff. He was confident that 
the authority of the monarchs of the house of Bour- 
bon, and his own pleasing and insinuating manner, 
would be irresistible. " His affability/' says St Priest, 
" which was a little theatrical, but always winning, 



364 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS, 



seemed to transport the Court of Louis XV* into the 
midst of the gloomy apartments of the Vatican." On 
entering the Conclave, Bernis, in the most courteous and 
modest manner, and without shewing any pretension of 
a desire to exercise any empire over the holy College, 
said to his colleagues, " France has only the desire of 
seeing raised to the papal throne a wise and temperate 
prince, who may entertain the respect due to the great 
powers. The choice of the Sacred College can only 
rest upon virtue, since it shines forth in each one of its 
members. But virtue alone is not sufficient. Who 
could surpass Clement XIII. in religion and purity of 
doctrine ? His intentions were excellent ; neverthe- 
less, during his reign, the Church was disturbed and 
shaken to its centre. Let your eminences restore 
concord between the Holy See and the Catholic States, 
and bring back peace to Christendom, and France will 
be content." * As an inducement to the cardinals to 
comply with the wishes of the sovereigns, Bernis had 
permission to promise in their names the restitution of 
Avignon, Pontecorvo, and Benevento ; and it may be 
well supposed that he made the most of the permis- 
sion. To this, the Zelanti and the Jesuit party an- 
swered, that in the election of the supreme chief of the 
Church, no considerations should be regarded but the 
good of religion, and that the electors ought to listen 
to no advice, but implore fervently the Holy Ghost, 
and follow his inspiration. De Bernis' position became 
rather embarrassing. Charles III., it seems, proposed 
to bind the future Pope by a written promise to abolish 
the order of the Jesuits. But when D'Aubeterre pro- 
posed to Bernis this arrangement, the cardinal drew 
back ; his conscience would not allow him to be an ac- 
complice in lowering so much the Tiara. He refused 
to make any such proposals, adding, with justice, that 
nothing could secure the execution of the contract, and 

* Instructions to the Cardinals De Luynes and De Bernis, February 
19, 1769. See St Priest, p. 54. 



ABOLITION OF THE ORDER. 



365 



that a cardinal who was capable of pledging himself 
beforehand to such a contract, would dishonour his 
future pontificate, as everything must ultimately come 
to light ; * and although the ambassadors insisted anew 
with more pressing instances, Bernis remained firm in 
his opinion, that such conduct was disgraceful and ille- 
gal. Aubeterre endeavoured to overcome his repug- 
nance by all sorts of arguments, and in a letter 
addressed to him on the 11th of April, we find the 
following passage : "I know well that I am unable to 
be the casuist of your eminence ; but let your emi- 
nence consult Cardinal Ganganelli, one of the most cele- 
brated theologians of this country, and who has never 
been accused of professing a lax morality." j 

While the cardinals were thus engaged in the 
supreme and all-important affair of choosing the chief 
of their Church, they, the Jesuits, the ambassadors, 
and all Rome, were on a sudden thrown into a state 
of anxiety and expectation. Joseph II., Emperor of 
Germany, accompanied by his brother Leopold, Grand 
Duke of Tuscany, arrived in Rome. Possessed of 
real personal merit, Joseph disdained ostentation, and 
appeared among the citizens of the eternal city with 
all the studied and striking contrast of an incognito, of 
which he was the inventor, under the modest title of 
Count of Falkestein. He mixed among the Romans 
without a suite, wearing no decoration, and without any 
pomp. Yet his presence in Rome produced a great 
sensation. 

There are in almost every nation certain tradi- 
tions, which are transmitted from generation to gene- 
ration, tacitly without any apparent effort by any 
person to transmit them, which, however, pass to the 

* St Priest, p. 58. 

f Cret. vol. v. p. 326. He quotes the No. 14 of the Lettres inedites D' Au- 
beterre. We have not an opportunity of verifying these letters, and must 
rest on his authority. St Priest says that it was, on the contrary, De 
Bernis who promised to the ambassadors to consult Ganganelli; but 
however it is, what appears incontestable is, that Granganelli was con- 
sulted. 



366 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS, 



remotest posterity as if by intuition, and form part 
of the moral life of a people. Such is in Rome the 
tradition, more or less correct, of a republic, and of 
emperors, which is at the bottom of the heart of every 
inhabitant of the metropolis of the world. Very few 
people are recorded in history to have fought as we 
Romans lately did. But I doubt much that we would 
have so fought even for the same prize — liberty and 
independence — in the name of prince or king, or any 
title in Christendom, or, indeed, in any name except 
that of the republic, and it may be that of an emperor.* 
Joseph, although a Roman Catholic, and anxious to 
respect the scruples of his mother, Maria Theresa, 
was a philosopher, meditating already part of those 
reforms he shortly after effected ; and the moment he 
came within sight of Rome, he decided upon humbling 
her pride, and putting some restraint upon her immo- 
derate pretensions. When in Rome, as may be ima- 
gined, he was courted by all parties, and his support 
was eagerly sought by every one, and especially by 
the Zelanti and the Jesuits. Every one waited with 
impatience to see the part he would take in the con- 
test. But the young prince was, or affected to be, in- 
different to the paltry question of the Jesuits, which 
was then paramount ; and in speaking of it, he often 
repeated that he wondered that the fate of some thou- 
sand monks should cause so much uneasiness to such 
powerful sovereigns. Although he spoke of the Je- 
suits with the greatest contempt, nevertheless the 
fathers hoped that they might claim him as their par- 
tisan ; an opinion which Joseph took care soon to dis- 
sipate. While visiting the different monuments of 
Rome, he went also to the Gesit, the principal and most 
magnificent establishment of the order. The fathers 
soon gathered round him in the most respectful and 

* In the time of our short republic, we were once moved to tears by 
seeing some Trasteverini throw off their hats, and spontaneously, with- 
out being told or taught, go and kiss these magical and once respected 
letters, S.P.Q.R. Indeed I even feel moved in writing them. 



ABOLITION OF THE ORDER. 



367 



humble attitude ; and the General, approaching him, 
and prostrating himself at the emperor's feet with the 
most profound humility, was going to address him, 
when Joseph, without allowing him to go on, abruptly 
asked him when he was going to relinquish his habit. 
Ricci turned pale, and muttered some inarticulate 
w r ords ; he confessed that the times were very hard 
for him and for his brethren, but that they trusted in 
God and in the future holy Father, whose infallibility 
would be for ever compromised if he destroyed an 
order which had received the sanction of so many of 
his predecessors. The emperor smiled; and being 
then in the church, and chancing at the moment to fix 
his regards on a statue of Ignatius of massive silver, 
and glittering with precious stones, exclaimed against 
the prodigious sum it must have cost. " Sire/' stam- 
mered the Father General, "this statue has been 
erected with the money of the friends of the Society." 
" Say rather," replied Joseph, " with the profit of the 
Indies," and departed, leaving the fathers in the 
utmost grief and dejection.* Joseph, assuming, on the 
other hand, a marked tone of superiority over the 
sovereigns of the house of Bourbon, affected the same 
indifference as to the election of a Pope, which he con- 
sidered, as he said, of little moment, and unworthy of 
occupying the attention of a monarch of the eighteenth 
century; and, to prove by deeds the sincerity of his 
words, he gave orders to the Cardinal Pozzo-Bonelli, 
his minister, neither to support nor oppose any can- 
didate. 

The cardinals were distressed at this marked indif- 
ference of the only Catholic sovereign of rank w T ho 
was then on good terms with Rome ; and wishing to 
try whether they could not attract the young prince 
to the Holy See, by shewing him some extraordinary 
mark of respect and devotion, in general so flattering 
to the youthful mind, they, violating all their rules 

* St Priest, p. 55. 



368 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



and regulations, invited the emperor to do them the 
honour of visiting the Conclave. Joseph went thither, 
and was met by all the cardinals in a body, one of 
whom took him by the hand, and introduced him 
within those precincts which no man can enter or leave 
from the commencement of the meeting till a Pope has 
been elected. The emperor received all those extra- 
ordinary advances with cold dignity. He addressed 
Bernis with rather condescending affability, which 
much nattered the vanity of the cardinal. But when 
Torrigiani was presented to him, he merely observed, 
"I have heard much of you," and inquired imme- 
diately for the Cardinal of York. " Le voici," an- 
swered the grandson of James II. Joseph saluted the 
last of the Stuarts with a marked expression of fea- 
ture, and requested to be admitted to his cell. " It is 
very small for your highness/' said the emperor, after 
having visited it.* 

When the emperor was on the point of leaving the 
Conclave, the demonstrations of the cardinals increased. 
" Sire/' cried they, " we trust that your imperial 
majesty will protect the new Pope, that he may put 
an end to the troubles of the Church." The emperor 
replied, that the power to accomplish this rested with 
their eminences, by choosing a Pope who should imi- 
tate Benedict XIV., and not require too much ; that 
the spiritual authority of the Pope was incontestable, 
but that he ought to be satisfied with this ; and that, 
above all, in treating with sovereigns, he ought never 
to forget himself so far as to violate the rules of policy 
and good-breeding.t So saying, he left the Conclave, 

* St Priest, p. 56. 

=t See St Priest, p. 57, who reports all these details, as given by the 
emperor himself to D'Aubeterre. Joseph enlarged complacently on his 
contemptuous policy toward the Holy See, and declared, in plain terms, 
that he knew the Court of Home too well not to despise it, and thought 
very little of his admission to the Conclave. " Those people," said he, 
speaking of the cardinals, " tried to impress upon me the value of this 
distinction, but I am not their dupe." 



ABOLITION OF THE ORDER. 



369 



and even abandoned Home the same evening,, and set 
out for Naples to avoid the fetes prepared for him. 

The cardinals, when the agitation produced by the 
visit of the emperor was a little subdued, returned to 
their party intrigues, and vainly endeavoured, during 
three long months, to give a successor to St Peter. 
At last the Spanish cardinals, who seem to have pur- 
posely delayed their voyage till that moment, in order 
to decide by their votes and their influence a contest 
which must have by this time tried both parties, arrived 
in Rome, and entered the Conclave. La Ceda and De 
Solis, the latter Archbishop of Seville, and possessing 
Charles III.'s confidence, began at once to explore the 
ground, and to take all the necessary measures to 
succeed in their purpose, Bernis still pretending to 
be the negotiator of the Conclave. The Spaniards, 
leaving him to rejoice in this opinion, set themselves 
quietly to work, and soon succeeded in bringing the 
matter to a conclusion, by the choice of a candidate 
who was accepted by both parties. This candidate 
was Cardinal Ganganelli, of whom we must give somo 
account before proceeding further. 

Lorenzo Ganganelli was born in the town of St 
Arcangelo, on the 30th of October 1705, of a plebeian 
family, his father being a labourer. Like his prede- 
cessor, the goatherd of Montalto, Lorenzo entered at 
a very early age the order of St Francis (the Corde- 
liers),* and distinguished himself by a constant appli- 
cation, by the love of solitude, and by a calm, equal, 

* In Italy, the monasteries of the orders called mendicant are the refuge 
of three peculiar classes of persons. The first class of those who repair 
thither are idle, unthinking fellows, who disdain to do any sort of work ; 
the second are those who have but the convent to escape the prison; and 
the third, those youth who, feeling within themselves the power, the 
capacity, or the ambition of achieving some great deeds, and seeing no 
possibility of emerging from the crowd, have recourse to the cloister as 
the only way left them of arriving at eminence. Almost all the men 
of mark among the Italian clergy have been monks, born of poor and 
humble parentage ; and many Popes were of the same. It is known that 
not a penny is requisite to enter into those monasteries, while, to become 
a secular priest, one requires to possess some little property. 



370 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



and placid conduct. His principal occupation was the 
study of theology, in which he became a proficient and 
able professor. But his long meditation upon this 
science did not inspire him with a spirit of fanaticism 
and persecution, but, on the contrary, with a spirit of 
tolerance and love for his fellow-men ; and, what ap- 
pears still more rare, he did not in the least alter his 
jovial and agreeable manners. Nor did he, plunged 
as he was in the study of divinity, become insensible to 
the charms of nature, or to the attractions of the fine 
arts. He delighted in natural history, and spent many 
of his leisure hours in dissecting insects, or in collect- 
ing plants. He cultivated literature with some success ; 
and if he was not a judicious connoisseur, he certainly 
was a warm protector of the fine arts, and was passion- 
ately fond of music* One of his masters had 
said of him in this particular, "No wonder he loves 
music, seeing that everything in his mind is in har- 
mony."! From his earlies v ^ outh, Lorenzo conceived 
hopes of rising to an extraordinary station in life ; and 
his ambition, which was ardent and persevering, per- 
suaded him that he was destined by Providence to per- 
form extraordinary deeds ; which persuasion gave to 
all his conduct the characteristic turn of a mysterious 
reliance on the future. When his parents dissuaded 
him from entering the cloister, Lorenzo, although he 
was then very young, answered that a monk's frock 
had often preceded the purple, and that the two last 
Sistuses had issued from the convents of St Francis. 
Indeed, he cherished the memory of Padre Felice, of 
that Sistus who, even in our own day, is remembered 
by all the Italians, but, a^ove all, by the lowest classes, 
with a loving veneratic i. Like Sistus, Ganganelli 
shewed little inclination for the aristocracy, and courted 

* It was lie who began that magnificent museum in the Vatican, in- 
creased afterwards by Pins VI. , which bears the name of Museo Pio-Cle- 
mentino, and which is the admiration of all Europe. 

+ See Ranke, vol. ii. p. 449, in a note quoting " Aneddoti riguardanti 
la famiglia e le opere di Clemente." 



ABOLITION OF THE ORDER. 



371 



the favour of the multitude. Ganganelli, even after 
he had ascended to the highest dignity, remained an 
unpretending and popular monk. He was ambitious, 
and extremely jealous of real authority, but disdained 
the shows and appearance of it. "Notwithstanding 
his elevation, Ganganelli preserved his former simple 
habits. Pomp and ceremony were less to his taste 
than a frugal meal, long rides into the campagna of 
Rome, the friendship of Francesco,* the visit of a few 
well-informed strangers, and, above all, the conversation 
of the fathers of the convent of the Holy Apostles/' f 

These were, indeed, very amiable and noble qualities, 
and assuredly Clement XIV. proved one of the most 
enlightened and well-intentioned Popes that ever 
ascended the pontifical chair. But almost all the his- 
to^ans, many of them influenced no doubt by the fact 
that he was the suppressor of the order of the Jesuits, 
have exaggerated the virtues and merits of Ganganelli, 
and made of him, either a* monk or as Pope, an irre- 
proachable and unexceptionable personage, gifted with 
almost supernatural qualities.^ We are not quite so 
partial to him, and, while we give him credit for his 
many superior good qualities, we cannot overlook his 
faults, nor declare his conduct free from reproach. 
Thus, for example, it is evident that Ganganelli, as a tho- 
rough good Franciscan (an order from the first to the 

* Francesco was a lay brother, for whom Ganganelli preserved to the 
last the most sincere friendship and affection. 

St Priest, p. 60. It was in this convent that Ganganelli resided 
"before his exaltation to the pontificate, and he often went thither after- 
wards to spend some hours. 

J Ranke (vol. iii. p. 449) exaggerates Ganganelli's virtues, and repre- 
sents him as faultless and hoi} 7 , which brings us to make a remark on the 
celebrated German historian. His inde atigable industry in searching 
archives and public and private libraru^, and inspecting unpublished 
manuscripts, has enabled him to throw light on many obscure questions; 
but we think that often, on the simple authority of some ambassador's 
relation, or private letters, or of writings without name, which only 
express the private opinion of the writer, he has established principles, 
and deduced consequences, that are not in accordance with what is known 
or may be ascertained by an accurate examination of the facts. We 
could give many instances of what we assert. 



" 372 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



last inimical to the Company), and as a tolerant and 
conciliating man, could not be the friend, or have any 
regard for the Jesuits ; and yet, perceiving how influ- 
ential the fathers were under Rezzonico, Padre Lor- 
enzo courted their favour, obtained the protection of 
Bicci, who presented him to the Pope's nephew, and 
by their joint interest the poor monk was made an 
eminentissimo. This certainly does not prove much in 
favour of his straightforwardness ; and his whole con- 
duct during the Conclave proves also that Ganganelli 
was not over-scrupulous as to the means he adopted to 
satisfy his deeply-rooted ambition. Gioberti, his warm 
apologist, seeing that it would be rather difficult to 
exonerate him from the reproach of ambition, admits 
that he was indeed an ambitious man, but he says, " If 
it is true, according to St Paul, that the man who de- 
sires the office of a bishop desires a good work,* why 
will it not be permitted in certain cases to wish to ob- 
tain the Popedom, which is the supreme priesthood ? "f 
And he (Gioberti) proceeds to prove that such ambition 
is permitted when the man seeks not his own but the 
public welfare, when he is sure that he is qualified for 
the task, and when he does not make use of any un- 
worthy means to obtain the object of his ambition ; and 
he pretends that Ganganelli fulfilled all these condi- 
tions. We, too, give credit to the poor cordelier for 
having fulfilled the two first, and we believe that, in 
aspiring to the supreme See, he had in view the public 
advantage, the welfare of the Church, and that, more- 
over, he thought himself perfectly qualified to be a 
Pope ; but we shall leave our readers to judge whether 
all the means he resorted to were unexceptionable and 
honest. 

During the Conclave of all the cardinals, Cardinal 
Ganganelli appeared the most unconcerned and indif- 
ferent as to the supremely important matter they were 

* 1 Tim. iii. 1. 

t Gioberti, vol. iii. p. 347. 



ABOLITION OF THE ORDER. 



373 



engaged in. He kept aloof from the intrigues of all 
parties, so that each might have considered him as one 
of its adherents. He ingratiated himself with the 
party of the sovereigns, by repeating often in public, 
but with the utmost timidity, just as an observation to 
be taken into consideration, " Their arms are very 
long, they reach beyond the Alps and the Pyrenees ; " 
while to the partisans of the Jesuits he repeated, " We 
must no more think of destroying the Society of Jesus 
than of pulling down the dome of St Peter's."* It has 
been insinuated, and even asserted, by many histo- 
rians, that while Ganganelli was speaking so ambi- 
guously in public, he had secretly assured the French 
minister of his adverse disposition towards the Jesuits, 
and that France, from the beginning, had chosen him 
as her candidate. St Priest positively denies that this 
was the case, and affirms that Ganganelli was by no 
means the man upon whom France rested her confi- 
dence. " The cardinal was indeed mentioned in the list 
of bons sujets, that is to say, of persons who would not 
be unacceptable to the Bourbons ; but his name, as well 
as that of many others, was accompanied with notes 
of reservation." f And the French historian proceeds 
to say that France, far from preferring him to the 
rest of the candidates, suspected him of intrigues and 
duplicity ; and Ganganelli's conduct might have well 
given cause for such suspicion. He had been pre- 
viously intimate with the French cardinals, and shewed 
himself rather favourable to their interests, but during 
the sitting of the Conclave had affected to shun them, 
evidently with the intention of not giving offence to 
the other party. He lived alone, shut up in his cell, 
and seemed as if what was going on did not concern 
him in the least. 

How, then, did it happen that he was chosen to the 
vacant throne ? The Jesuits have accused him of 
simony, and have asserted that, in exchange for a 

* Cret. vol. v. p. 332. f St Priest, p. 61. 

2 B 



374 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



written promise to suppress their order, the Spanish 
cardinals gave him all the votes that were at the dis- 
posal of the house of Bourbon * The admirers of 
Clement have, on the other hand, indignantly denied 
the ignominious traffic, and affirm that he was chosen 
as the most moderate, tolerant, and virtuous of all the 
cardinals, and as one who could alone heal the wounds 
of the Church ; and the fact is, that neither party may 
be said to be altogether wrong in their assertion. It 
rests on many good authorities ; and in our eyes the 
fact admits of no doubt, that Ganganelli, two or three 
days before the scrutiny for the nomination of a Pope, 
gave a written note to De Solis, conceived in the fol- 
io wins: terms: — " I admit that the Sovereign Pontiff 
may in conscience abolish the Society of the Jesuits, 
without violating the canonical regulations." f Now, 
how far this proceeding may constitute the sin of 
simony, we do not pretend to decide. Evidently, in 
the strictest sense of the word, here is no specified 
contract constituting simony. In this note Cardinal 
Ganganelli expresses his opinion, as a theologian, that 
the Supreme Pontiff may, in perfect safety of con- 
science, abolish the Order of Jesus ; and this opinion is 
perfectly sound and orthodox. But, as plain matter 
of fact, it may be asked, was this answer intended to 
win for the adviser the support of Spain, who was 
firmly resolved not to consent to any nomination with- 
out having obtained from the future Pope a written 
promise to suppress the Society of Jesus I It seems 
that the Spanish cardinals, with whatever intention 
Ganganelli may have given the note, took it not as the 
opinion of the theologian, but as the solemn engage- 
ment of the future Pope, so that, soon after the note 
was written, as if the Holy Ghost had of a sudden 

* It is to be remarked, that now that the most perfect concord reigns 
between the Court of Rome and the fathers, and that they support each 
other, the latter have changed their language in regard to "this affair, and 
that same Cretineau assures us that he disbelieves this imputation. 

f See St Priest, p. 63. 



ABOLITION OF THE OBDER. 375 

decided on the choice, and suggested to the electors 
the same name, Ganganelli was elected to the chair of 
the apostles. 

However, between the negotiation of the Spanish 
ministers with Ganganelli and the scrutiny for the nomi- 
nation, Bernis, who saw that all opinions were growing 
warm in favour of the Franciscan, and perceived that he 
had been played upon by his Castilian colleagues, since 
all had been done without his participation, to save at 
least appearances, hastened to the probable candidate, 
and boasted to him that his election would be due to the 
influence of France. The Spaniards willingly allowed 
him to play this specious part, so suited to his osten- 
tatious character, and Ganganelli, who perhaps felt 
embarrassed as to how he should express his pretended 
gratitude, answered in these strange words, " I bear 
Louis XV. in my heart, and the Cardinal de Bernis 
in my right hand."* Bernis then, with a sort of 
diplomatic importance, requested distinctly to know 
Ganganelli's opinions with respect to the Jesuits, and 
the affair of the Infant of Parma. On the latter 
point the future Pope answered in the most satisfac- 
tory manner, and promised not only to recall the 
monitorium, but to consecrate himself, in the Basilica 
of St Peter, the duke's approaching marriage. But on 
the Jesuit question he was not so explicit ; he admitted 
that their suppression appeared to be necessary, and 
that most likely the future Pope would not be satisfied 
with mere words ; and, " in short," says St Priest, 
" Ganganelli promised De Bernis all that he desired." "j* 
This being so arranged, and the Austrian party, to 
which also adhered that of the Jesuits, having ac- 
cepted the candidature of Ganganelli, he was, as we 
have said, elected Sovereign Pontiff, and assumed the 
name of Clement XIV. 

Ganganelli having at last attained the summit of 
his ambition, enjoyed for a short moment with rap-- 
* St Priest, p. 63. + Ibid. p. 64. 




376 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



ture his good fortune, and the immense popularity 
which immediately surrounded him, and gave way to 
all the naturally good impulses of his heart. On the 
day of his coronation, upon entering the Basilica of 
the Vatican, his eye fell upon a stone on which he had 
once stood when a simple monk, to see the cortege of 
Pope Rezzonico pass by. " Look," said he, pointing 
it out to one of his suite, " from that stone I was 
driven ten years ago."* The very commencement of 
his pontificate gave great satisfaction to the sove- 
reigns, and to all the friends of a liberal and tolerant 
policy. He began by prohibiting the reading of the 
Bull in coma Domini, so offensive to all monarchs ; 
he suspended the effect of the monitorium against the 
Duke of Parma ; he declared that he would send a 
nuncio to Portugal ; and he extended some conces- 
sions made by Benedict XIV. to the King of Sardinia, 
and which his predecessor had refused to recognise. 
Had not the question of the Jesuits been at issue, 
there is no doubt that Ganganelli would have given 
general satisfaction, and he himself have lived and 
died a happy and honoured Pope. But this unfortu- 
nate affair poisoned all his joy from the commence- 
ment of his reign. To whatever side he turned himself, 
he saw nothing but almost insurmountable obstacles. 
On the one hand, the sovereigns demanded impera- 
tively the abolition of the order, and Clement had to 
fear that his refusal to comply would divest Rome 
not only of the valuable possessions of Avignon and 
Benevento, but also of the filial obedience of Spain, 
France, and Portugal. On the other hand, how could 
he, the supreme chief of the Roman Catholic Church, 
abolish an order which had been considered the firmest 
bulwark of this same Church, and, as such, recognised 
and approved by many of his predecessors? What 
would be the judgment of posterity and of the fol- 
lowers of his creed ? Would they ratify his sentence, 

* St Priest, p. 65. 



ABOLITION OF THE ORDER. 



377 



and ascribe to him the gift of infallibility at the 
expense of the other mistaken pontiffs ? or would 
he be accounted peccable, and his predecessors in- 
fallible i In both cases the Papal infallibility would be 
greatly damaged, and the authority it gave to the 
decisions of the Holy See greatly diminished, which 
neither Ganganelli nor any other Pope ever wished 
that it should be ; because it is a remarkable fact, 
that the Popes, elective sovereigns, and who alone of 
such have no hope whatever of transmitting to their 
issue or their relatives any portion of their power, 
have always been, and still are, scrupulously careful 
not to diminish the splendour and glory of the Papal 
chair, although they may sometimes foresee that after 
their death it will be occupied by their bitterest 
enemy. What then could the poor Pope do in these 
critical circumstances ? Although he liked to be com- 
pared to Sistus V., whose memory he dearly wor- 
shipped, he was far from possessing the firmness of 
character and the indomitable energy of the quondam 
goatherd of the Abruzzi. He did not act as Sistus 
would have done; like all persons without energy, 
in perilous and difficult emergencies, he took no deci- 
sive measure, but directed all his efforts and artifices 
to gain time, incessantly promising to the sovereigns 
to come to a determination, and always evading the 
fulfilment of his promises at the decisive moment. 

To obtain some delay from France, he thought that 
the best he could do was to flatter the vanity of De 
Bernis, now the accredited ambassador of the court of 
Versailles, and to render him an unwilling accomplice 
in his dilatory system ; and Bernis, although an 
intelligent and shrewd man, was so blinded by his 
vanity, as to be easily duped by his arts. St 
Priest has given, from Bernis' letters to Choiseul, a 
relation of some interviews which took place between 
the Pope and the cardinal. " When the cardinal 
went to pay his respects to the Pope, the latter would 



378 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



not accept the customary homage ; he forbade his 
genuflexion, repeatedly he offered him his snuff-box, 
and even compelled him to be seated in his presence. 
Bernis retired with every mark of profound respect, 
but Clement said, in a familiar tone, ( We are alone, 
and no person sees us ; let us dispense with etiquette, 
and resume the old equality of the cardinalate.' " * A 
few days afterwards, when Bernis presented a letter 
from Louis XV., Clement seized and kissed it with 
transport, exclaiming, " I owe all to France. Provi- 
dence has chosen me among the people like St Peter, 
and the house of Bourbon has, under Providence, been 
the means of raising me to the chair of the prince of 
the Apostles. Providence, too, has permitted," he 
added, embracing Bernis, " that you should be the 
minister of the king at the Papal court. I place unli- 
mited confidence in you, my dear cardinal ; let there 
be no indirect intercourse, no mystery, between us."f 

These assurances flattered the vanity of Bernis, who 
was continually asking his court to sanction the delays 
w T hich the dignity of the Pope rendered necessary, and 
which he represented to be inevitable in matters affect- 
ing ecclesiastical discipline. These representations had 
some influence upon the mind of Louis XV., who in 
his profligacy was often assailed by transitory fits of 
remorse ; and he prevailed upon the King of Spain, 
though with some difficulty, to be a little more patient, 
and to grant to the Pope some reasonable delay for 
the settlement of the question. 

Clement's joy at the good success of his policy was 
irrepressible. Not only did he feel proud of his own 
cleverness, but he hoped to be able to find fresh pre- 
texts for an indefinite delay. This brief moment of 
illusion was the happiest in all his pontificate ; indeed 
it was the only happy one. His countenance beamed 
with contentment, his manner became still more ami- 
able, and nothing could exceed his good-humour. To 

* St Priest, p. 66. * Ibid. 



ABOLITION OF THE ORDER. 



379 



wrap himself in his happiness, he went to the enchant- 
ing residence of Castel-Gandolfo, and spent many 
happy hours on the charming shore of the Lake of 
Albano, with no other witness or suite than the old 
friend of his youth, the poor lay brother, Francesco. 

But the felicity was of short duration. Scarcely 
had Ganganelli returned to Rome, when all his illusion 
vanished. Ardent and restless in the furtherance of 
his projects, Charles III. was impatient to see the de- 
struction of the Jesuits accomplished ; and seeing that 
no progress was made towards this end, he accused 
Bernis to Choiseul either of incapacity, or of conniv- 
ance with Clement. Choiseul, to whom Charles left 
all liberty to act as he pleased in the general policy 
of Europe, was very anxious to comply with his wishes 
in this affair. He had already, some time before, 
written to Bernis a letter full of remonstrances, and 
ending thus : — " And if I was ambassador at Rome, I 
should be ashamed to see Father Riccithe antagonist 
of my master." * But now he pressed the cardinal 
more and more strongly to bring the Pope to a speedy 
decision. The Spanish king, on his part, not content 
with stimulating Choiseul, was pressing the Pope harder 
and harder. First he held out a menace against the 
Court of Rome ; then, when Clement represented that 
there was some danger that the measure of suppression 
would cause an outbreak, or the interference of other 
monarchs, or of the pious friends of the Jesuits, he 
proposed to land at Civita Vecchia 6000 men to de- 
fend the Pope against his enemies ; and, to frighten 
Ganganelli still more, he publicly and explicitly de- 
nounced Cardinal de Bernis to the Court of France, 
and asked for his recall. 

Bernis was stunned by the shock, and felt as if his 
embassy, the thing of all things dearest to his heart, 
for the pomp and power which it imparted, had already 

* Letter of Choiseul to the Cardinal de Bernis, August 10, 1769. 
See it, Cret. vol. v. p. 342, ff. 



380 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



been torn from him. The sympathy which he had 
for Clement, the desire to be agreeable to him, and to 
repay the Pope for the confidence which he thought 
his Holiness placed in him, vanished at once, and all 
his thoughts were directed to find out how he could 
constrain the Sovereign Pontiff, his spiritual and im- 
mediate chief, to obey his temporal masters, and thus 
maintain himself in his embassy. Instead of his pre- 
vious easy acquiescence, he now became stern and 
exacting; and not seeing any more efficient step to 
take to calm Charles III.'s impatience, he urged the 
Pope to write to the king, and to make peace with 
him.* Ganganelli, overjoyed to escape the present 
evil, consented inconsiderately to what was asked of 
him, without reflecting that, by pledging himself in 
writing, he rendered his position still more difficult 
and perilous for the future. In his letter to the 
Spanish king, declining the assistance offered by his 
Catholic majesty, he requested time to accomplish the 
suppression of the Jesuits, admitting, at the same time, 
that this measure was indispensable, and announcing, 
in plain terms, that " the members of the Society had 
merited their fall from the restlessness of their spirit, 
and the audacity of their proceedings." f This letter, 
which was written in 1770, has been denied by some, 
and by others confounded with the more vague note 
which, as we have seen, it was asserted that Ganga- 
nelli had written previous to his ascension to the pon- 
tificate. This is a grave error ; and, to dispel any 
doubt, we shall quote the words of Cardinal Bernis 
himself, in his despatch of April 29, 1770. They are, 
as will be seen, of the gravest importance : — " The 
question is not whether the Pope would wish to sup- 
press the Jesuits ; but whether, after the formal pro- 
mises he has given in writing to the King of Spain, 
his Holiness can for a moment hesitate to fulfil them ? 
This letter, which I have induced him to write to his 

* St Priest, p. 73. + Ibid. 



ABOLITION OF THE ORDER. 



381 



Catholic majesty, binds him so firmly, that, unless the 
court of Spain should alter its opinions, the Pope will 
be obliged to complete the undertaking. By gaining 
him, it is true, he might effect something, but the 
power of delay is limited. His Holiness is a man of 
too much clear-sightedness not to perceive that, should 
the King of Spain cause his letter to be printed, he 
w r ould lose his character as a man of honour, if he 
hesitated to fulfil his promise, and suppress the Society, 
a plan for whose destruction he had promised to com- 
municate, and whose members he considered as dan- 
gerous, discontented, and turbulent. 5 ' * 

On the existence of this letter, to which they wrongly 
assign, as we have said, a date anterior to the election 
of Ganganelli, the Jesuits have founded their system 
of defence. They have asserted that the Pope was 
compelled to the act of abolishing their Society, which 
act Clement personally did not consider either just or 
necessary ; and it cannot be denied that the sove- 
reigns exercised a kind of constraint upon him. But 
was, then, Ganganelli favourable to the order, and 
would he, if left to himself, have let the Jesuits live 
in peace, and protected them against a great part of 
Europe conspiring for their destruction ? No ! un- 
doubtedly no. We have already observed that Gan- 
ganelli could not be the friend of the Jesuits. The 
man who took Sistus V. and Benedict XIV. for his 
models, and with whom he had so many points of 
resemblance, could only have wished what these his 
predecessors wished and attempted to do, namely, to 
put a stop to the Jesuits' pride and arrogance. But 
we say more. Had not Clement been pressed too 
hard by the sovereigns, we are convinced that he 
would have acted more energetically and with more 
decision. We must remember that Ganganelli, though 
little exacting in regard to outward shows of pomp 
and power, had the highest opinion of the dignity with 

* See it in St Priest, p. 73, in a note. 



382 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



which he was invested, and was by no means disposed 
to see the tiara lowered or dishonoured in his person. 
Once, when Florida Blanca, the Spanish ambassador, 
in order to support his argument, suggested to the 
Pope that immediately after the publication of the 
Brief of Suppression, Avignon and Benevento would be 
restored to the Holy See, Clement answered with 
majestic dignity, " Remember that a Pope governs the 
Church, but does not traffic in his authority,"* and, 
breaking short the conference, retired in indignation. 
Besides, Ganganelli, though wanting in energy, and 
though he may be reproached with somewhat equivo- 
cal conduct in order to satisfy his ambition, was a man 
too religious and too noble-hearted, of too sound prin- 
ciples of morality and honesty, to subscribe to a 
measure which he considered unjust. He would have 
preferred every inconvenience, martyrdom itself, to 
such iniquitous and dishonourable conduct. Why, 
then, did he hesitate so long to accomplish a measure 
which he considered useful and just? Let Clement 
answer for himself first, and we shall give our reasons 
afterwards. In the Brief of Suppression the Pope 
says : " We have omitted no care, no pains, in order 
to arrive at a thorough knowledge of the origin, the 
progress, and the actual state of that regular order 
commonly called the Company of Jesus." f And 
Kanke, whom the Jesuits often quote as authority, and 
who seems to be rather partial to them, says, " Clement 
applied himself with the utmost attention to the affairs 
of the Jesuits. A commission of cardinals was formed, 
the archives of the Propaganda were examined, and 
the arguments of both sides were deliberately consi- 
dered." J It is evident, then, that Clement wished to 
give a judgment with a perfect knowledge of the affair. 
It must be remembered that there is a wide distance 
between the opinion that Ganganelli might have en- 

* St Priest, p. 86. + Brief Dominus ac Medemptor. 

t Vol. ii. p. 450. 



ABOLITION" OF THE ORDER. 



383 



tertained of the Jesuits, and the fact of the Supreme 
Pontiff, the chief of the religion, condemning, by a 
solemn irrevocable act, a religious order approved and 
protected by thirteen former Popes. It must be re- 
membered that Clement was himself a monk, and that, 
at the very beginning of the Brief of Suppression, he 
informs us what his sentiments were towards the 
monastic communities. " It is beyond doubt," says 
the Brief, " that among the things which contribute 
to the good and happiness of the Christian Republic, 
the religious orders hold the first place. It was for 
this reason that the Apostolic See, which owes its 
welfare and support to these orders, has not only 
approved, but endowed them with many exemptions, 
privileges, and faculties."* Besides these powerful 
and principal reasons, many other secondary ones 
must have induced Clement to defer the all-important 
act. It was repugnant to his mild, benevolent, and 
conciliating character to have recourse to harsh and 
severe measures. The nobleness and generosity of 
his heart, on another side, suggested to him, that to 
the Jesuits, perhaps, he was indebted for the supreme 
dignity he had obtained, since it was by their influence 
that he had been named cardinal; and this leads us to 
believe that, had the measure been less urgent and 
indispensable to the welfare of the Church and 
Christianity, he, in memory of past benefits, would 
never have suppressed the order. As a last, not 
least reason, for Ganganelli's hesitation, it may be 
adduced that the Roman Catholic world would have 
received it with astonishment, and not without mur- 
murs, if he had abolished a society for which his bene- 
factor, Rezzonico, whose ashes were yet warm, had 
nourished such a particular affection, and which he 
had taken under the protection of his infallibility — 
an infallibility which, though Clement never spoke, 
he no doubt would not have liked that others should 



* St Priest, p. 86. 



384 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



have called in question. In one word, in judging of 
Ganganelli's conduct, the different parties have too 
often forgotten that he was a Pope and a monk. 

All the motives we have adduced to explain and 
excuse Clement's delay in suppressing the order, were 
noble and praiseworthy ; but it must be confessed that 
with them was mingled one that was less noble, and 
not so creditable to the Pope's character. He was 
afraid lest the Jesuits should assassinate or poison 
him ; and his fears were not, as we shall see, without 
foundation. 

The Jesuits, it may be imagined, had spared no pains 
to influence Clement's mind, and to deprecate the scheme 
of their destruction. At first they set at work all the 
influences they still possessed. In Rome, above all, they 
were as yet all-powerful among the nobility. They 
were the agents of the husbands, the confessors of the 
wives, the tutors of the children ; and by means of 
these nobles they endeavoured to influence the Pope in 
their favour. But as Ganganelli received few persons 
of that rank, and listened to none, this expedient of the 
fathers proved abortive. They obtained afterwards 
from the sovereigns of Austria, Bavaria, Poland, and 
Sardinia, letters of recommendation to the Holy 
Father; and when they perceived that even these 
proved ineffectual, they had recourse to threats, and, 
by many ingenious and sly contrivances, conveyed to 
Clement's mind the persuasion that they would take 
away his life, whatever precautions he should take. 
To make a still stronger impression upon his mind, 
they had his death predicted by a set of impostors, 
whose predictions were, as is generally the case, 
readily believed by the people ; and the Jesuits took 
good care to strengthen this belief. Bernardina Renzi, 
a peasant of Valentano, giving herself out as a pro- 
phetess, predicted the vacancy of the Holy See by the 
mysterious initials P. S. S. V. (presto sara sede vacante). 
Another Pythoness of Montefiascone also put forth simi- 



ABOLITION OF THE ORDER. 



385 



lar strange and mysterious predictions.* The Pope 
was too enlightened, too religious, to believe in such 
impostures ; but, just because he did not believe in 
them, he feared them the more, knowing that those 
who had put them forth would find the means to 
accomplish them. Two Jesuits, Fathers Coltraro and 
Venizza, along with the confessor of Bernardina, were 
thrown into prison, as having been suspected of being 
the advisers of the prophetess. In the various circles 
of society, almost publicly and aloud, the Jesuits and 
their partisans accused and cursed Clement, heaping 
reproaches on his name, and even insinuating the pos- 
sibility of a deposition. Insulting images and hideous 
figures were put forth, announcing an approaching 
catastrophe, under the form of vengeance of Provi- 
dence. Father Ricci, far from feeling any repugnance 
to the support of such shameless deception, did not 
even shrink from an interview with the sorceress of 
Valentino.f 

Surrounded as he was by treachery, Ganganelli 
could not long resist the impressions which such a state 
of things was calculated to make upon him. His 
natural gaiety gave way ; his health became impaired ; 
and evident signs of weariness were stamped on the 
whole of his countenance. He lived more secluded 
than ever, and would not taste of any dishes but those 
prepared by his faithful Francesco, or by his own 
hands. 

On the other hand, the sovereigns became more and 
more urgent. To Anzpuru succeeded, as Spanish am- 
bassador, that same Muniho who, in his capacity of 
magistrate, had assisted D'Aranda in the mysterious 
examination of the Jesuits' conduct, after the emeute 
of 1766, and who was now the Count of Florida 
Elanca. He was stern and inflexible, and pressed hard 

* St Priest, p. 28. 

+ St Priest, ubi sup. He lias extracted all tliose details from a letter 
of Florida Blanca, addressed to Pope Pius VI. 



386 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



the poor Pope to take the dangerous leap. The 
transitory, delusive hope which the Jesuits had en- 
joyed, of escaping ruin, after the disgrace of Choiseul, 
and the paramount influence which had been acquired 
over the king by their friend Madame Dubarry, the 
successor of Madame de Pompadour, soon vanished, 
D'Aiguillon, to deprecate the anger of Charles III. 
for the fall of his friend Choiseul, seconded the 
Spanish king vigorously in his cherished project of 
obtaining the Suppression ; and, as Austria had aban- 
doned the cause of the order,* the ruin of the Jesuits 
became inevitable. Yet Clement resisted all those 
importunities and menaces, and held firm, till, after a 
long and protracted investigation, his conscience 
was satisfied that the act he was called upon to per- 
form was an act of supreme justice and of immense 
advantage to Christianity. Then, although he felt 
sure that he should forfeit his life, he decided upon 
sacrificing it to the fulfilment of a duty, which gives 
to the act a more imposing and solemn gravity. On 
the 23d July 1773, he affixed his signature to the 
Brief, saying, in the very act of writing his name, " We 
sign our death" — Sottoscriviamo la nostra morte.f 

We shall now lay before our readers a great part 
of this Brief, which we should wish them to attentively 
read and consider, because, as a Roman Catholic priest 
observes, " It is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful 
and honourable of the Roman Church; and so much 

* It is differently reported by what means the consent of Austria to 
the destruction of the Jesuits was obtained. The report most current 
at the time was, that Charles III. obtained it from Maria Theresa, by 
sending to the empress her own confession, which her J esuit director had 
sent to the General, and which the king had had the means of obtain- 
ing. St Priest, in contradicting this opinion, says that Maria Theresa's 
resistance was conquered by her son Joseph, who, although he took 
little interest in the affair as it affected the Jesuits, yet coveted their 
possessions. 

f These are the words attributed to the Pope by the popular tradition. 
However, St Priest, following Caraccioli, makes the Pope exclaim, after 
having signed the brief, M Questa suppressione mi dara la morte" — 
Thi& suppression will be my death. 



ABOLITION OF THE ORDER. 



387 



so, that I dare assert that there is no ecclesiastical 
ordinance where shines more brightly the wisdom, the 
holiness, the moderation, and the true philosophy of 
the apostolic chair. The idea which is predominant 
in the Brief is, that of the unity and peace which 
the Man-God brought to mortals, by establishing his 
religion/' &c* In fact, the Brief is extremely remark- 
able in all its parts, and shews with what accuracy, with 
what patience, Clement had examined the question. 
It begins by pronouncing a high eulogium on the 
monastic orders, and on the good intentions of Loyola 
in founding that of the Jesuits. It then points 
out many of these orders which were abolished by 
different Popes. It recapitulates all the favours that 
the Holy See had bestowed on the Jesuits. Then, in 
a rapid sketch of the history of the order, it shews in 
it the principle of discord, of schism; of a continual 
war waged by it against all other religious communi- 
ties; the dissensions it excited in various Catholic 
countries ; the obstinacy of the Jesuits in persisting in 
their reprehensible conduct, notwithstanding a number 
of briefs and admonitions of the Supreme Pontiff ; and, 
finally, concludes by declaring it to be impossible that 
the Church could recover a firm and durable peace, 
so long as the said Society subsisted. Here follows 
this memorable document,f which we give at length, as 
the most correct epitome of the history of the Com- 
pany, written by the most high and competent autho- 
rity :— 

" Brief for the effectual Suppression of the Order of 
Jesuits. 

" Clement XIV., Pope, &c. 

"Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Redeemer, was 
foretold by the prophets as the Prince of Peace: the 

* Gioberti, vol. iii. p. 374. 

+ It is here given as translated in the Protestant A dvocate, 1815, vol. 
iii. p. 153 ; &c. 



388 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



angels proclaimed him under the same title to the 
shepherds at his first appearance upon earth; he after- 
wards made himself known repeatedly as the sovereign 
pacificator; and he recommended peace to his dis- 
ciples before his ascension to heaven. 

" Having reconciled all things to God his Father, 
having pacified by his blood and by his cross every- 
thing which is contained in heaven and in earth, he 
recommended to his apostles the ministry of reconcilia- 
tion, and bestowed on them the gift of tongues, that 
they might publish it ; that they might become minis- 
ters and envoys of Christ, who is not the God of dis- 
cord, but of peace and love ; that they might announce 
this peace to all the earth, and direct their efforts to 
this chief point, that all men, being regenerated in 
Christ, might preserve the unity of the Spirit in the 
bond of peace ; might consider themselves as one body 
and one soul, as called to one and the same hope, to 
one and the same vocation, at which, according to St 
Gregory, we can never arrive, unless we run in concert 
with our brethren. The same word of reconciliation, 
this same ministry, is recommended to us by God in a 
particular manner. Ever since we were raised (with- 
out any personal merit) to the chair of St Peter, we 
have called these duties to mind day and night ; we 
have had them without ceasing before our eyes ; they 
are deeply engraven on our heart ; and we labour to 
the utmost of our power to satisfy and to fulfil them. 
To this effect we implore without ceasing the protec- 
tion and the aid of God, that he would inspire us and 
all his flock with counsels of peace, and open to us the 
road which leads to it. We know, besides, that ive are 
established by the Divine Providence over kingdoms 
and nations, in order to pluck up, destroy, disperse, 
dissipate, plant, or nourish, as may best conduce to 
the right cultivation of the vineyard of Sabaoth, and 
to the preservation of the edifice of the Christian 
religion, of which Christ is the chief corner-stone. In 



ABOLITION" OF THE ORDER. 



consequence hereof, we have ever thought, and been 
constantly of opinion, that, as it is our duty carefully 
to plant and nourish whatever may conduce in any 
manner to the repose and tranquillity of the Christian 
republic, so the bond of mutual charity requires that 
we be equally ready and disposed to pluck up and 
destroy even the things which are most agreeable to 
us, and of which we cannot deprive ourselves without 
the highest regret and the most pungent sorrow. 

" It is beyond a doubt, that among the things which 
contribute to the good and happiness of the Christian 
republic, the religious orders hold, as it were, the first 
place. It was for this reason that the Apostolic See, 
which owes its lustre and support to these orders, has 
not only approved, but endowed them with many ex- 
emptions, privileges, and faculties, in order that they 
might be so much the more excited to the cultivation 
of piety and religion ; to the direction of the manners 
of the people, both by their instructions and their 
examples ; to the preservation and confirmation of the 
unity of the faith among the believers. But if, at any 
time, any of these religious orders did not cause these 
abundant fruits to prosper among the Christian people, 
did not produce those advantages which were hoped 
for at their institution; if at any time they seemed 
disposed rather to trouble than maintain the public 
tranquillity ; the same Apostolic See, which had availed 
itself of its own authority to establish these orders, did 
not hesitate to reform them by new laws, to recall 
them to their primitive institution, or even totally to 
abolish them where it has seemed necessary." 

[Here follows a long list of religious orders sup- 
pressed by different Popes, without giving them the 
opportunity of clearing themselves from the accusa- 
tions brought against them. It then proceeds as 
follows : — ] 

"We, therefore, having these and other such ex- 
amples before our eyes, examples of great weight and 




390 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



high authority — animated, besides, with a lively desire 
of walking with a safe conscience and a firm step in 
the deliberations of which we shall speak hereafter — 
have omitted no care, no pains, in order to arrive 
at a thorough knowledge of the origin, the progress, 
and the actual state of that regular order commonly 
called 6 The Company of Jesus' In the course of 
these investigations, we have seen that the holy- 
founder of the order did institute it for the salvation 
of souls, the conversion of heretics and infidels, and, 
in short, for the greater advancement of piety and 
religion. And, in order to attain more surely and 
happily so laudable a design, he consecrated himself 
rigorously to God, by an absolute vow of evangelical 
poverty, with which to bind the Society in general, 
and each individual in particular, except only the 
colleges in which polite literature and other branches 
of knowledge were to be taught, and which were 
allowed to possess property, but so that no part of 
their revenues could ever be applied to the use of the 
said Society in general. It was under these and other 
holy restrictions that the Company of Jesus was ap- 
proved by the Pope Paul III., our predecessor of 
blessed memory, by his letter sub plumbo, dated 27th 
September 1540." 

[Here Clement enumerates the other Popes who 
had either confirmed the privileges already granted to 
the Society, or had explained and augmented them.] 

" Notwithstanding so many and so great favours, it 
appears from the apostolical Constitutions, that, almost 
at the very moment of its institution, their arose in 
the bosom of this Society divers seeds of discord and 
dissension, not only among the companions themselves, 
but with other regular orders, the secular clergy, the 
academies, the universities, the public schools, and 
lastly, even with the princes of the states in which the 
Society was received. 

" These dissensions and disputes arose sometimes 



ABOLITION OP THE ORDER. 



391 



concerning the nature of their vows, the time of ad- 
mission to them, the power of expulsion, the right of 
admission to holy orders without a sufficient title, and 
without having taken the solemn vows, contrary to the 
tenor of the decrees of the Council of Trent, and of 
Pius V., our predecessor ; sometimes concerning the 
absolute authority assumed by the General of the said 
order, and on matters relating to the good govern- 
ment and discipline of the order ; sometimes concern- 
ing different points of doctrine concerning their schools, 
or such of their exemptions and privileges as the ordi- 
naries and other civil or ecclesiastical officers declared to 
be contrary to their rights and jurisdiction. In short, 
accusations of the greatest nature, and very detrimen- 
tal to the peace and tranquillity of the Christian re- 
public, have been continually received against the said 
order. Hence the origin of that infinity of appeals 
and protests against this Society, which so many so- 
vereigns have laid at the foot of the throne of our pre- 
decessors Paul IV., Pius V., and Sixtus V. 

"Among the princes who have thus appealed, is 
Philip II,, King of Spain, of glorious memory, who 
laid before Sixtus V. not only the reasons of complaint 
which he had, but also those alleged by the inquisi- 
tors of his kingdom, against the excessive privileges 
of the Society, and the form of their government. He 
desired likewise that the Pope should be acquainted 
with the heads of accusation laid against the Society, 
and confirmed by some of its own members remarkable 
for their learning and piety, and demanded that the 
Society should undergo an apostolic visitation. Sixtus 
V., convinced that these demands and solicitations of 
Philip were just and well-founded, did, without hesi- 
tation, comply therewith; and, in consequence, named 
a bishop of distinguished prudence, virtue, and learn- 
ing, to be apostolical visitor, and at the same time 
deputed a congregation of cardinals to examine this 
matter. 



392 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



" But this pontiff having been carried off by a pre- 
mature death, this wise undertaking remained without 
effect. Gregory XIV. being raised to the supreme 
apostolic chair, approved, in its utmost extent, the in- 
stitution of the Society, by his letter, sub jilumbo, 
dated the 28th of July 1591. He confirmed all the 
privileges which had been granted by any of his pre- 
decessors to the Society, and particularly the power 
of expelling and dismissing any of its members, with- 
out any previous form of process, information, act, or 
delay ; upon the sole view of the truth of the fact, and 
the nature of the crime, from a sufficient motive, and 
a due regard of persons and circumstances. He or- 
dained, and that under pain of excommunication, that 
all proceedings against the Society should be quashed, 
and that no person whatever should presume, directly 
or indirectly, to attack the institution, constitutions, or 
decrees of the said Society, or attempt in any manner 
whatever to make any changes therein. To each and 
every of the members only of the said Society, he per- 
mitted to expose and propose, either by themselves or 
by the legates and nuncios of the Holy See, to himself 
only, or the Popes his successors, whatever they should 
think proper to be added, modified, or changed in their 
institution. 

" Who would have thought that even these disposi- 
tions should prove ineffectual towards appeasing the 
cries and appeals against the Society ? On the con- 
trary, very violent disputes arose on all sides concern- 
ing the doctrine of the Society, which many represented 
as contrary to the orthodox faith and to sound morals. 
The dissensions among themselves, and with others, 
grew every day more animated ; the accusations 
against the Society were multiplied without number, 
and especially with that insatiable avidity of tern- 
poral possessions with which it was reproached. 
Hence the rise not only of those well-known troubles 
which brought so much care and solicitude upon the 



ABOLITION OF THE ORDER. 



393 



Holy See, but also of the resolutions which certain 
sovereigns took against the said order. 

" It resulted that, instead of obtaining from Paul V., 
of blessed memory, a fresh confirmation of its institute 
and privileges, the Society was reduced to ask of him 
that he would condescend to ratify and confirm, by 
his authority, certain decrees formed in the Fifth 
General Congregation of the Company, and trans- 
cribed word for word in the Brief of the said Pope, 
bearing date September 4, 1606. In these decrees, 
it is plainly acknowledged that the dissensions and 
internal revolts of the said companions, together 
with the demands and appeals of strangers, had obliged 
the said companions assembled in congregation to 
enact the following statute, namely : 

" e The Divine Providence having raised up our 
Society for the propagation of the Faith, and the 
gaining of souls, the said Society can, by the rules of 
*its own institute, which are its spiritual arms, arrive 
happily, under the standard of the Cross, at the end 
which it has proposed for the good of the Church and 
the edification of our neighbours. But the said 
Society would prevent the effect of these precious 
goods, and expose them to the most imminent dangers, 
if it concerned itself ivith temporal matters, and 
which relate to political affairs and the administra- 
tion of government ; in consequence whereof, it has 
been wisely ordained by our superiors and ancients, 
that, confining ourselves to combat for the glory of 
God, we should not concern ourselves with matters 
foreign to our profession: but whereas, in these times 
of difficulty and danger, it has happened, through the 
fault perhaps of certain individuals, through ambition 
and intemperate zeal, that our institute has been ill 
spoken of in divers places, and before divers sovereigns, 
whose affection and good-will the Father Ignatius, of 
holy memory, thought we should preserve for the good 
of the service of God ; and whereas a good reputation 



394 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



is indispensably necessary to make the vineyard of 
Christ bring forth fruits ; in consequence hereof, our 
congregation has resolved that we shall abstain from 
all appearance of evil, and remedy, as far as in our 
power, the evils arisen from false suspicions. To this 
end, and by the authority of the present decree of the 
said congregation, it is severely and strictly forbidden 
to all the members of the Society to interfere in any 
manner whatever in public affairs, even though they 
be thereto invited, or to deviate from the institute, 
through entreaty, persuasion, or any other motive 
whatever. The congregation recommends to the 
fathers-coadjutors, that they do propose and deter- 
mine, with all diligence and speed, such further means 
as they may think necessary for remedying this abuse.' 

"We have seen, in the grief of our heart, that neither 
these remedies, nor an infinity of others, since em- 
ployed, have produced their due effect, or silenced 
the accusations and complaints against the said 
Society. Our other predecessors, Urban VII., Clement 
IX., X., XL, and XIL, and Alexander VII. and 
VIII., Innocent X., XII., and XIII., and Benedict 
XIV., employed, without effect, all their efforts to the 
same purpose. In vain did they endeavour, by salu- 
tary constitutions, to restore peace to the Church ; as 
well with respect to secular affairs, with which the 
Company ought not to have interfered, as with regard 
to the missions ; which gave rise to great disputes 
and oppositions on the part of the Company with the 
ordinaries, with other religious orders, about the holy 
places, and communities of all sorts in Europe, 
Africa, and America, to the great loss of souls, and 
great scandal of the people; as likewise concerning 
the meaning and practice of certain idolatrous cere- 
monies, adopted m certain places, in contempt of those 
justly approved by the Catholic Church ; and further, 
concerning the use and explanation of certain maxims, 
which the Holy See has with reason proscribed as 



ABOLITION OF THE ORDER. 



395 



scandalous, and manifestly contrary to good morals ; 
and, lastly, concerning other matters of great import- 
ance and prime necessity, towards preserving the in- 
tegrity and purity of the doctrines of the gospel; from 
which maxims have resulted very great inconveniences 
and great detriment both in our days and in past 
ages; such as the revolts and intestine troubles in 
some of the Catholic states, persecutions against the 
Church in some countries of Asia and Europe, not to 
mention the vexation and grating solicitude which 
these melancholy affairs brought on our predecessors, 
principally upon Innocent XL, of blessed memory, who 
found himself reduced to the necessity of forbidding 
the Company to receive any more novices ; and after- 
wards upon Innocent XIII., who was obliged to 
threaten the Company with the same punishment; 
and, lastly, upon Benedict XIV., who took the resolu- 
tion of ordaining a general visitation of all the houses 
and colleges of the Company in the kingdom of our 
dearly beloved son in Jesus Christ, the most faithful 
King of Portugal. 

" The late apostolic letter of Clement XIII., of blessed 
memory, our immediate predecessor, by which the in- 
stitute of the Company of Jesus was again approved 
and recommended, was far from bringing any comfort 
to the Holy See, or any advantage to the Christian 
republic. Indeed this letter was rather extorted than 
granted, to use the expression of Gregory X. in the 
above-named General Council of Lyons. 

" After so many storms, troubles, and divisions, every 
good man looked forward with impatience to the happy 
day which was to restore peace and tranquillity. But 
under the reign of this same Clement XIII. the times 
became more difficult and tempestuous; complaints 
and quarrels ivere multiplied on every side; in some 
places dangerous seditions arose, tumults, discords , 
dissensions, scandals, which, weakening or entirely 
breaking the bonds of Christian charity, excited the 



396 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



faithful to all the rage of party hatreds and enmities. 
Desolation and danger grew to such a height, that the 
very sovereigns, whose piety and liberality towards the 
Company were so well known as to be looked upon as 
hereditary in their families — we mean our dearly-be- 
loved sons in Christ, the Kings of France, Spain, 
Portugal, and Sicily — found themselves reduced to 
the necessity of expelling and driving from their 
states, kingdoms, and provinces, these very Com- 
panions of Jesus ; persuaded that there remained no 
other remedy to so great evils ; and that this step was 
necessary in order to prevent the Christians from 
rising one against another, and from massacring each 
other in the very bosom of our common mother the 
Holy Church. The said our dear sons in Jesus 
Christ having since considered that even this remedy 
would not be sufficient towards reconciling the whole 
Christian world, unless the said Society was absolutely 
abolished and suppressed, made known their demands 
and wills in this matter to our said predecessor Clement 
XIII. They united their common prayers and autho- 
rity to obtain that this last method might be put in 
practice, as the only one capable of assuring the con- 
stant repose of their subjects, and the good of the Ca- 
tholic Church in general. But the unexpected death 
of the aforesaid pontiff rendered this project abortive. 

" As soon as by the divine mercy and providence wo 
were raised to the chair of St Peter, the same 
prayers, demands, and wishes were laid before us, 
and strengthened by the pressing solicitations of many 
bishops, and other persons of distinguished rank, 
learning, and piety. But, that we might choose the 
wisest course in an affair of so much importance, wo 
determined not to be precipitate, but to take due time ; 
not only to examine attentively, weigh carefully, and 
wisely debate, but also, by unceasing prayers, to ask 
of the Father of Lights his particular assistance under 
these circumstances ; exhorting at the same time the 



ABOLITION OF THE ORDER. 



397 



faithful to co-operate with us by their prayers and 
good works in obtaining this needful succour. 

" And first of all we proposed to examine upon what 
grounds rested the common opinion, that the institute 
of the Clerks of the Company of Jesus had been ap- 
proved and confirmed in an especial manner by the 
Council of Trent. And we found that in the said 
Council nothing more was done with regard to the said 
Society, only to except it from the general decree, 
which ordained that in the other regular orders, those 
who had finished their novitiate, and were judged 
worthy of being admitted to the profession, should be 
admitted thereto ; and that such as were not found 
worthy should be sent back from the monastery. The 
same Council declared, that it meant not to make any 
change or innovation in the government of the clerks 
of the Company of Jesus, that they might not be hin- 
dered from being useful to God and his Church, ac- 
cording to the intent of the pious institute approved 
by the Holy See. 

"Actuated by so many and important considerations, 
and, as we hope, aided by the presence and inspira- 
tion of the Holy Spirit; compelled, besides, by the 
necessity of our ministry, wdiich strictly obliges us to 
conciliate, maintain, and confirm the peace and tran- 
quillity of the Christian republic, and remove every 
obstacle which may tend to trouble it ; having further 
considered that the said Company of Jesus can no 
longer produce those abundant fruits, and those great 
advantages, with a view to which it was instituted, 
approved by so many of our predecessors, and endowed 
with so many and extensive privileges ; that, on the 
contrary, it was very difficult, not to say impossible, 
that the Church could recover a firm and durable 
peace so long as the said Society subsisted ; in conse- 
quence hereof, and determined by the particular reasons 
we have here alleged, and forced by other motives which 
prudence and the good government of the Church 



398 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS, 



have dictated, the knowledge of which we reserve to 
ourselves, conforming ourselves to the examples of our 
predecessors, and particularly to that of Gregory X. 
in the general Council of Lyons; the rather as, in 
the present case, we are determining upon the fate of 
a society classed among the mendicant orders, both by 
its institute and by its privileges ; — after a mature 
deliberation, we do, out of our certain knowledge, 
and the fulness of our apostolical powe»~, suppress 
and abolish the said Company : we deprive it of 
all activity whatever, of its houses, schools, colleges, 
hospitals, lands, and, in short, every other place what- 
soever, in whatever kingdom or province they may 
be situated ; we abrogate and annul its statutes, 
rules, customs, decrees, and constitutions, even though 
confirmed by oath, and approved by the Holy See or 
otherwise; in like manner we annul all and every its 
privileges, indults, general or particular, the tenor 
whereof is, and is taken to be, as fully and as amply 
expressed in the present Brief as if the same were 
inserted word for word, in whatever clauses, form, 
or decree, or under whatever sanction their privileges 
may have been conceived. We declare all, and all 
kind of authority, the General, the provincials, the 
visitors, and other superiors of the said Society to be 

FOR EVER ANNULLED AND EXTINGUISHED, of what nature 

soever the said authority may be, as well in things 
spiritual as temporal. We do likewise order that 
the said jurisdiction and authority be transferred to 
the respective ordinaries, fully and in the same 
manner as the said generals, &c. exercised it, accord- 
ing to the form, places, and circumstances with respect 
to the persons and under the conditions hereafter 
determined ; forbidding, as we do hereby forbid, 
the reception of any person to the said Society, the 
novitiate or habit thereof. And with regard to 
those who have already been admitted, our will is, 
that they be not received to make profession of the 



ABOLITION OF THE ORDER. 



399 



simple, solemn, absolute vows, under penalty of nul- 
lity, and such other penalties as we shall ordain. 
Further, we do will, command, and ordain, that those 
who are now performing their novitiate be speedily, 
immediately, and actually sent back to their own 
homes; we do further forbid that those who have 
made profession of the first simple vows, but who are 
not yet admitted to either of the holy orders, be ad- 
mitted thereto under any pretext or title whatever ; 
whether on account of the profession they have already 
made in the said Society, or by virtue of any privi- 
leges the said Society has obtained, contrary to the 
tenor of the decrees of the Council of Trent, 

" And whereas all our endeavours are directed to 
the great end of procuring the good of the Church 
and the tranquillity of nations ; and it being at the 
same time our intention to provide all necessary aid, 
consolation, and assistance to the individuals or com- 
panions of the said Society, every one of which, in his 
individual capacity, we love in the Lord with a truly 
parental affection ; and to the end that they being de- 
livered on their part from the persecutions, dissensions, 
and troubles with which they have for a long time been 
agitated, may be able to labour with more success in 
the vineyard of the Lord, and contribute to the salva- 
tion of souls ; therefore, and for these motives, we do 
decree and determine that such of the companions as 
have yet made professions only of the first vows, and 
are not yet promoted to holy orders, being absolved, 
as in fact they are absolved, from the first simple 
vows, do, without fail, quit the houses and colleges of 
the said Society, and be at full liberty to choose such 
course of life as each shall judge most conformable to 
his vocation, strength, and conscience, and that within 
a space of time to be prescribed by the ordinary of 
the diocese ; which time shall be sufficient for each to 
provide himself some employment or benefice, or at 
least some patron who will receive him into his house, 



400 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



always provided that the time thus allowed do not 
exceed the space of one year, to be counted from the 
day of the date hereof. And this the rather, as, 
according to the privileges of the said Company, those 
who have only taken these first vows may be expelled 
the order upon motives left entirely to the prudence of 
the superiors, as circumstances require, and without 
any previous form of process. As to such of the 
companions as are already promoted to holy orders, 
we grant them permission to quit the houses and col- 
leges of the Company, and to enter into any other 
regular order already approved by the Holy See. 
In which case, and supposing they have already 
professed the first vows, they are to perform the 
accustomed novitiate in the order into which they are 
to enter according to the prescription of the Council 
of Trent ; but if they have taken all the vows, then 
they shall perform only a novitiate of six months, we 
graciously dispensing with the rest. Or otherwise, 
we do permit them to live at large as secular priests 
and clerks, always under a perfect and absolute 
obedience to the jurisdiction of the ordinary of the 
diocese where they shall establish themselves. We 
do likewise ordain, that to such as shall embrace this 
last expedient, a convenient stipend be paid out of the 
revenues of the house or college where they reside ; 
regard being paid, in assigning the same, to the ex- 
penses to which the said house shall be exposed, as 
well as to the revenues it enjoyed. With regard to 
those who have made the last vows, and are promoted 
to holy orders, and who, either through fear of not 
being able to subsist for want of a pension, or from 
the smallness thereof, or because they know not where 
to fix themselves, or, on account of age, infirmities, or 
other grave and lawful reasons, do not choose to quit 
the said colleges or houses, they shall be permitted to 
dwell therein, provided always that they exercise no 
ministry ivhatsoever in the said houses or colleges, 



ABOLITION OF THE OHDER. 



401 



and be entirely subject to the ordinary of the diocese; 
that they make no acquisitions whatever, according 
to the decree of the Council of Lyons, that they do not 
alienate the houses, possessions, or funds which they 
actually possess. It shall be lawful to unite in one or 
more houses the number of individuals that remain, 
nor shall others be substituted in the room of those 
who may die ; so that the houses which become vacant 
may be converted to such pious uses as the circum- 
stances of time and place shall require, in conformity 
to the holy canons, and the intention of the founders, 
so as may best promote the divine worship, the salva- 
tion of souls, and the public good. And to this end a 
member of the regular clergy, recommendable for his 
prudence and sound morals, shall be chosen to preside 
over and govern the said houses ; so that the name of 
the Company shall be, and is, for ever extinguished 
and suppressed. 

" In like manner we declare, that in this general 
suppression of the Company shall be comprehended the 
individuals thereof in all the provinces from whence 
they have already been expelled; and to this effect 
our will is, that the said individuals, even though they 
have been promoted to holy orders, be ipso facto 
reduced to the state of secular priests and clerks, and 
remain in absolute subjection to the ordinary of the 
diocese, supposing always that they are not entered 
into any other regular order. 

" If, among the subjects heretofore of the Company 
of Jesus, but who shall become secular priests or 
clerks, the ordinaries shall find any qualified by their 
virtues, learning, and purity of morals, they may, as 
they see fit, grant or refuse them power of confessing 
and preaching; but none of them shall exercise the 
said holy function without a permission in writing; 
nor shall the bishops or ordinaries grant such permis- 
sion to such of the Society who shall remain in the 
colleges or houses heretofore belonging to the Society, 



402 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



to whom we expressly and for ever prohibit the 
administration of the sacrament of penance, and the 
function of preaching ; as Gregory X. did prohibit it 
in the Council already cited. And we leave it to the 
consciences of the bishops to see that this last article 
be strictly observed ; exhorting them to have before 
their eyes the severe account which they must render 
to God of the flock committed to their charge, and 
the tremendous judgment with which the great Judge 
of the living and the dead doth threaten those who are 
invested with so high a character. 

" Further, we will, that if any of those who have here- 
tofore professed the institute of the Company, shall be 
desirous of dedicating themselves to the instruction of 
youth in any college or school, care be taken that 
they have no part in the government or direction of 
the same, and that the liberty of teaching be granted 
to such only whose labours promise a happy issue, and 
who shall shew themselves averse to all spirit of 
dispute, and untainted with any doctrines which may 
occasion or stir up frivolous and dangerous quarrels. 
In a word, the faculty of teaching youth shall neither 
be granted nor preserved but to those who seem in- 
clined to maintain peace in the schools and tran- 
quillity in the world, 

" Our intention and pleasure is, that the dispositions 
which we have thus made known for the suppression 
of this Society shall be extended to the members 
thereof employed in missions, reserving to ourselves 
the right of fixing upon such methods as to us shall 
appear most sure and convenient for the conversion of 
infidels and the conciliation of controverted points. 

" All and singular the privileges and statutes of the 
said Company being thus annulled and entirely abro- 
gated, we declare that as soon as the individuals 
thereof shall have quitted their houses and colleges, 
and taken the habit of secular clerks, they shall be 
qualified to obtain, in conformity to the decrees of the 



ABOLITION OF THE ORDER. 



403 



holy canons and apostolic constitutions, cures, benefices 
without cure, offices, charges, dignities, and all em- 
ployments whatever, which they could not obtain so 
long as they were members of the said Society, accord- 
ing to the will of Gregory XIII., of blessed memory, 
expressed in his bull bearing date September 10th, 
1548, which Brief begins with these words — Satus 
superque, &c. Likewise we grant them the power 
which they had not before, of receiving alms for the 
celebration of the mass, and the full enjoyment of all 
the graces and favours from ivhich they were hereto- 
fore precluded as regular clerks of the Company of 
Jesus. 

" We likewise abrogate all the prerogatives which 
had been granted to them by their General and other 
superiors in virtue of the privileges obtained from the 
Sovereign Pontiffs, and by which they were permitted 
to read heretical and impious books proscribed by the 
Holy See ; likewise the power they enjoyed of not ob- 
serving the stated fasts, and of eating flesh on fast 
days ; likewise the faculty of reciting the prayers called 
the canonical hours, and all other like privileges; our 
firm intention being, that they do conform themselves 
in all things to the manner of living of the secular 
priests, and to the general rules of the Church. 

" Further, we do ordain, that after the publication of 
this our letter, no person do presume to suspend the 
execution thereof, under . colour, title, or pretence of 
any action, appeal, relief, explanation of doubts which 
may arise, or any other pretext whatever, foreseen or 
not foreseen. Our will and meaning is, that the sup- 
pression and destruction of the said Society, and of all 
its parts, shall have an immediate and instantaneous 
effect in the manner here above set forth ; and that 
under pain of the greater excommunication, to be im- 
mediately incurred by whosoever shall presume to 
create the least impediment or obstacle, or delay in 
the execution of this our will : the said excommunica- 



404 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



tlon not to be taken off but by ourselves, or our suc- 
cessors, the Roman Pontiffs. 

" Further, we ordain and command, by virtue of the 
holy obedience to all and every ecclesiastical person, 
regular and secular, of whatever rank, dignity, and 
condition, and especially those who have been hereto- 
fore of the said Company, that no one of them do carry 
their audacity so far as to impugn, combat, or even 
write or speak about the said suppression, or the rea- 
sons and motives of it, or about the institute of the 
Company, its form of government, or other circum- 
stance thereto relating, without an express permission 
from the Roman Pontiff, and that under the same 
pain of excommunication. 

" We forbid all and every one to offend any person 
whatever on account of the said suppression, and espe- 
cially those who have been members of the said Society, 
or to make use of any injurious, malevolent, reproachful, 
or contemptuous language towards them, whether 
verbally or by writing. 

" We exhort all the Christian princes to exert all that 
force, authority, and power which God has given them 
for the defence of the holy Roman Church, so that, in 
consequence of the respect and veneration which they 
owe to the Apostolic See, things may be so ordered, 
that these our letters have their full effect, and that 
they attentively heeding all the articles therein con- 
tained, do publish such ordonnances and regulations as 
may prevent all excesses, disputes, and dissensions 
among the faithful, whilst they carry this our will into 
execution. 

" Finally, we exhort all Christians, and entreat them 
by the bowels of our Saviour Jesus Christ, to remember 
that we have one Master, who is in heaven, one Saviour, 
who has purchased us by his blood ; that we have all 
been again born in the water of baptism, through the 
word of eternal life ; that we have all been declared 
sons of God, and co-heirs with Jesus Christ ; all fed 



ABOLITION OF THE ORDER. 



405 



with the same bread of the Catholic doctrine, and of 
the Divine Word ; that we are all one body in Jesus 
Christ, of which we are members, consequently it is 
absolutely necessary that, united by the common bond 
of charity, they should live in peace with all men, and 
consider it as their first duty to love one another, 
remembering that he who loveth his neighbour ful- 
filleth the law, avoiding studiously all occasion of 
scandal, enmity, division, and such-like evils, which 
were invented and promoted by the ancient enemy of 
mankind, in order to disturb the Church of God, and 
prevent the eternal happiness of the faithful, under 
the false title of schools, opinions, and even of the per- 
fection of Christianity. On the contrary, every one 
should exert his utmost endeavours to acquire that true 
and sincere wisdom of which St James speaks in his 
canonical epistle, ch. iii. v. 13. 

" Further, our will and pleasure is, that though the 
superiors and other members of the Society, and 
others interested therein, have not consented to this 
disposition, have not been cited or heard, still it shall 
not at any time be allowed them to make any observa- 
tions on our present letter, to attack or invalidate it, 
to demand a further examination of it, to appeal from 
it, make it a matter of dispute, to reduce it to the 
terms of law, to proceed against it by the means of 
restitationis ad integrum, to open their mouth against 
it, to reduce it ad viam et terminos juris, or, in short, 
to impugn it by any way whatever, of right or fact, 
favour or justice ; and even though these means may 
be granted them, and though they should have obtained 
them, still they may not make use of them in court or 
out of court ; nor shall they plead any flaw, subrep- 
tion, obreption, nullity, or invalidity in this letter, or 
any other plea, how great, unforeseen, or substantial 
it may be, nor the neglect of any form in the above 
proceedings, or in any part thereof, nor the neglect of 
any point founded on any law or custom, and ccm- 
2 D 



406 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



prised in the body of laws, nor even the plea of enormia 
enormissimm et totalis laisionis, nor, in short, any pre- 
text or motive, however just, reasonable, or privileged, 
not even though the omission of such form or point 
should be of such nature as, without the same being 
expressly guarded against, would render every other 
act invalid. For all this notwithstanding, our will and 
pleasure is, that these our letters should for ever and 
to all eternity he valid, permanent, and efficacious, 
have and obtain their full force and effect, and be in- 
violably observed by all and every whom they do or may 
concern, now or hereafter, in any manner whatever. 

" In like manner, and not otherwise, we ordain that 
all the matters here above specified, and every of 
them, shall be carried into execution by the ordinary 
judge and delegate, whether by the auditor, cardinal, 
legate d latere, nuncio, or any other person who has, 
or ought to have, authority or jurisdiction in any 
matter or suits, taking from all and every of them all 
power of interpreting these our letters. And this to 
be executed, notwithstanding all constitutions, pri- 
vileges, apostolic commands, &c. &c. &c. And though 
to render the abolition of these privileges legal they 
should have been cited word for word, and not com- 
prised only in general clauses, yet for this time, and 
of our special motion, we do derogate from this usage 
and custom, declaring that all the tenor of the said 
privileges is, and is to be supposed, as fully expressed 
and abrogated as if they were cited word for word, 
and as if the usual form had been observed. 

" Lastly, our will and pleasure is, that to all copies of 
the present Brief, signed by a notary public, and 
sealed by some dignitary of the Church, the same 
force and credit shall be given as to this original. 

" Given at Rome, at St Mary the Greater, 
under the seal of the Fisherman, the 
21st day of July 1773, in the fifth year 
of our Pontificate/' 



ABOLITION OF THE ORDER. 



407 



Immediately after the promulgation of this Brief, 
the prelates Macedonio and Alfani, accompanied by 
the Corsican soldiers, presented themselves at the 
Gesu, called together all the members of the Society, 
read to them the Brief of Suppression, and dispersed 
them, for the moment, in different ecclesiastical esta- 
blishments ; the General Kicci being confined to the 
English College. The two prelates, who were mem- 
bers of a commission appointed to examine and pro- 
ceed in all this important matter, then took possession 
of the building, put the seal on all papers and other 
valuable things, and left the house in the keeping of 
the soldiers. Other commissioners resorted to the 
same proceedings in the thirty-one establishments 
which the Jesuits possessed in Rome; while in the 
provinces, the bishops received and executed the same 
orders. Next morning, the Collegio Romano, and all 
the other different schools of the Jesuits, were taken 
possession of, and served by the Capuchins. But we 
must here observe, that even before the Brief was 
published, the Jesuits had been brought before divers 
tribunals in Rome, and in other parts of the Papal 
States, accused and found guilty of various misdemean- 
ours ; that several of their houses, as in Bologna 
Mecerata Frascati, had been, by the bishops, subjected 
to visitation, and some of them shut up ; and that even 
the possessions, and all the valuable things of the Col- 
legio Romano, had been confiscated to pay creditors. 
So that it may be said that even had Ganganelli 
wished to preserve the Jesuits, he would have found 
it difficult to resist public opinion, which, even in his 
own dominions, was so decidedly against the order. 

It will be perhaps well to take here a retrospective 
glance, and rapidly examine the progressive march of 
the famous Society. 

As we have seen, ten homeless and penniless enthu- 
siasts, under the guidance of a remarkable and supe- 
rior intelligence, had decided upon establishing a new 



408 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



religious order in a country already so infested by 
such leprosy, that the Holy See itself had forbidden 
the establishment of any new brotherhood. They 
were without friends, without supporters; they met 
with many obstacles, which nothing but the courage 
and indomitable energy of their chief could enable 
them to overcome. They were obliged to beg, from 
door to door, a hard piece of bread, and had nothing 
to shelter their wearied heads but the roofs of hospi- 
tals. Tet all difficulties wese vanquished, the Society 
was established, and sixteen years after, in 1556, when 
Ignatius died, the order numbered more than a thou- 
sand members, was established in thirteen provinces, 
and was in possession of many valuable establishments, 
A hundred years afterwards, the members of the 
Society had increased to twelve thousand, the pro- 
vinces to thirty -four, their wealth and the number of 
their establishments to a very considerable extent. 
Already, at this epoch, they boasted of having three 
saints, eight or ten martyrs, and ten or twelve of 
Loyola's disciples had sat in the College of Cardinals. 
At the time of the Suppression, the Society numbered 
thirty-nine houses of professed members, 669 colleges, 
61 novitiates, 196 seminaries, 335 residences, 223 mis- 
sions, and 22,782 members, dispersed all over the 
surface of the earth. The order then reckoned, as 
its chief glory, in the register of its members, 24 car- 
dinals, 6 electors of the empire, 19 princes, 21 arch- 
bishops, 121 titular bishops (so much for the article in 
the Constitutions which forbids the member to accept of 
any dignity), 11 martyrs, and 9 saints. 

W e wish we could give, with an equal degree of 
exactness, the amount of their fortune, raised by some 
to a fabulous amount, and by others represented as 
very insignificant. Nevertheless, we shall try to come 
to a fair estimate of the whole, from what we know, 
from their own confession, to have been a part of it. 

Cretineau gives a very minute detail of the fortune 



ABOLITION OF THE ORDER. 



409 



possessed by the Jesuits in France; and the total sum, 
according to his calculations, 'amounted to 58 millions 
of francs.* In the same volume, at page 303, the 
same historian says that the fortune the fathers pos- 
sessed in Spain was much more considerable — beau- 
coup plus considerable — than that they had in France; 
let us, then, say 80 millions ; while that which they 
possessed in Austria, according to the same authority, 
amounted to 125 millions.^ So that the total sum of 
their fortunes in those three estates amounted, by their 
own account, to 263 millions of francs. We, who know 
almost all the establishments they had in Italy, do not 
hesitate to say that what they possessed there amounted 
to an equal sum, 263. Now, let us add to these 526 
millions their other possessions in Belgium, Poland, in 
the remainder of Germany, in Portugal, in other small 
states, and in those rich mercantile establishments in 
both Indies, and we think it may be boldly asserted 
that their fortune amounted, in the whole, to a sum 
certainly not short of 40 millions sterling. So much 
for the article of the Constitution recommending holy 
poverty as the bulwark of religion. To this prodigious 
and almost incredible amount of property — which, how- 
ever, was not all productive, part of it consisting in 
houses and colleges — the reverend fathers added the 
annual income arising from pensions, or incomes 
assigned by princes, towns, or chapters for the main- 
tenance of divers colleges, some of which assignments 
were so considerable as to amount to £3000 yearly. 
Besides this, they had the annual revenues arising from 
the presents which twice a year they received from 
two or three hundred thousand pupils; the emoluments 
received by some of them as private tutors, agents, or 

stewards of great families; and, lastly, the alms ! ! ! 

Is not that a wonderful and astonishing fact, which 
proves forcibly the cunning and cleverness of those 
monks, who, to appearance, had nothing at heart but 

* Cret. vol. v. p. 275. t Ibid. p. 390. 



410 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



the conversion of souls and the gratuitous education 
of children, and who were able, in the space of 230 
years, to accumulate the immense sum of forty millions 
sterling ? 

However, when Bicci was examined, he swore that 
he had no hidden treasures nor money laid out at 
interest ; and we suppose that the good father, not 
to tell an untruth, must have added secretly after the 
words, ive have no hidden treasures, " in the places 
where you have looked for them, or where you sup- 
posed them to exist." We know, however, that after 
the Jesuits had been driven from France, Spain, 
Naples, and Parma, " they were so terrified, that 
Father Delci started instantly for Leghorn, carrying 
off the treasures of the order, with the intention of 
transporting them to England ; but the General, who 
was less pusillanimous, stopped him in his flight."* 
What then became of all the moneys and valuable 
things which the Jesuits possessed, since little or 
nothing was found in their establishments? This is 
a mystery which we are not able to explain. We 
can conceive, and every one may easily imagine, that 
the Jesuits, who, during the last twelve years of their 
existence, expected to be suppressed from day to day, 
were not so simple as to leave their transportable 
wealth at the mercy of their enemies ; but we would 
not hesitate to affirm that the Society must have pos- 
sessed a large treasure at the time, though, what 
became of it, we cannot say. Indeed they were so 
cautious, and so eager to accumulate specie, that for 
many years the revenues of the Collegio Romano were 
not employed for its maintenance, and the fathers pre- 
ferred having their immovable possessions confiscated 
to pay its debts, in lieu of disbursing money. We know 
also, that when they were re-established in 1814, they 
at once got up their establishments in the most 
splendid style, and soon after made many acquisitions, 

* St Priest, p. 50. 



ABOLITION OF THE ORDER. 



411 



How did they come by the means by which all this 
was effected ? Was it the ancient treasure ? and who 
had it in charge during all the forty years of their 
legal suppression ? This rather resembles a romance 
than pure historical truth, and we have no means 
whatever of elucidating it. 

Meanwhile a commission was named to commence 
proceedings against Ricci and some others of his 
brethren. The old General, when interrogated, an- 
swered with sufficient simplicity, and without any 
apparent resentment. He enlarged on the innocence 
of the Society, and protested that he had neither con- 
cealed nor lent oat at interest any money ; and of all 
the accusations that were brought against him, he only 
admitted that he had a correspondence with the King 
of Prussia ; we shall see afterwards for what purpose. 

About two months after, Ricci, the assistants, the 
secretary of the order, the Fathers Favre, Forrestier, 
Gautier, and some others, were sent to the Castel St 
Angelo, the state prison. The crimes of which they 
were accused and convicted were, that they had at- 
tempted, both by insinuations, and by more open 
efforts, to stir up a revolt in their own favour against the 
Apostolic See ; that they had published and circulated 
throughout all Europe libels against the Pope, one 
of which had for its title, De Simoniaca electione fra- 
tris Ganganellii in Summum Pontificem — Simonia- 
cal election of brother Ganganelli to the office of Chief 
Pontiff ; while Favre, Forrestier, and Gautier were 
loudly repeating everywhere that the Pope was the 
Antichrist, and that the five cardinals of the com- 
mission were to be compared to the five propositions 
of Jansenius.* And in the following chapter, we shall 
see that they did not confine their anger to threaten- 
ings and imprecations. 

* Botta Storia d 'Italia cont. da quella del Guic. 48. See also Grio- 
berti, vol. iii. p. 391, and ff. 



412 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

1774 

DEATH OF CLEMENT XIV. 

During the struggle which Clement had to undergo 
before the suppression of the order, his health, as 
we have seen, had been injured, and his gay, placid 
humour much altered. But the moment he had af- 
fixed his signature to the document, after pronouncing 
those foreboding prophetic words, " This suppression 
will cause our death" — wrung from his heart by 
the knowledge he had of the enemies he was going 
to offend, as if those words were the last doleful 
thought he was going to give to the subject — he be- 
came an altered man, or, to sj>eak more correctly, he 
again became the same good-humoured, mild, and 
affable monk he had ever been. The facility with 
which his orders were executed filled him also with 
extraordinary joy. " His health is perfect, and his 
gaiety more remarkable than usual," wrote Bernis on 
the 3d of November 1773. Whatever discontent the 
nobles and the cardinals may have felt, they remained 
silent spectators of the event; and the generality of 
the citizens of Rome, and, in particular, the Transteve- 
rini, hailed the Pope with loud acclamations. In vain 
did the conquering party foment a revolt; Borne re- 
mained tranquil; Clement was delighted ; and, as if to 
compensate for the sad moments he had passed, and 
the irascible humour he had shewn, his character 



DEATH OF CLEMENT XIV. 



413 



became still more joyful, and almost infantine. One 
day, followed by the Sacred College and all the Ro- 
man prelates, he went on horseback to the Church 
La Minerva. Suddenly a heavy rain came on ; Por- 
porati Monsignori all vanished, and the light horse- 
men themselves sought shelter. The Pope, left alone, 
and laughing at the terrors of his escort, proceeded 
bravely on his way amidst the storm, and the people 
were delighted at the sight, and loud in their ap- 
plause.* 

All the authors are unanimous on this point, and 
agree in representing Ganganelli as full of vigour, 
and enjoying the most perfect health. " The Pope," 
Bays Botta, " enjoyed rather good health, because he 
was of a strong constitution, and his natural strength 
had not been wasted by an intemperate and licentious 
life; for, on the contrary, he had always lived with 
frugality and moderation, according to his own natural 
inclination."! And the ex- Jesuit Georgel, who cer- 
tainly can be accused of anything but partiality to 
the suppressor of his order, says " that Ganganelli's 
strong constitution seemed to promise him a long 
career." J Nevertheless, in spite of appearances, sinis- 
ter rumours were afloat not only in Rome, but 
throughout all Italy. At the very time that the 
Pope was seen in the public ceremonies, in all the 
churches and everywhere else, enjoying the most per- 
fect health and strength, the rumour of his death was 
widely circulated. The Pythoness of Valentano an- 
nounced it with a characteristic obstinacy ; and a 
Jesuit, writing to a brother of the order, and relating 
such impious predictions, says, Aplica ut fiat sys- 

Nor was it long before the ominous predictions 
were realised. This man, represented by everybody 

* St Priest, p. 89. + Botta, ubi supra. 

X Georgel, Memoires, vol. i. p. 160. Apud St Priest, p. 90. 

§ Gfioberti, quoting Florida Blanca, vol. iii. p. 394. 



414 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



as strong and healthy, suddenly, on the approach of 
the holy week of 1774, some eight months after the 
signature of the Brief, was taken ill, confined to his 
palace, and unable to grant any audience, even to the 
diplomatic body. What had happened to Clement, 
who, when on the 17th of August the ambassadors of 
the great powers were admitted into his presence, 
appeared a mere skeleton? Whence such strange 
and fatal change? The answer to these questions 
will appear from the following statement of facts. 

One day, on rising from table, the Pope felt an in- 
ternal shock, followed by a great cold ; and although 
he was for a moment alarmed, he soon recovered from 
his fright, and attributed his indisposition to indigestion. 
But soon after, the voice of the Pope, which had always 
been full and sonorous, was lost in a singular hoarse- 
ness ; an inflammation in his throat compelled him to 
keep his mouth continually open. He had repeated 
attacks of vomiting, and felt such feebleness in his 
limbs, that he was obliged to discontinue his long habi- 
tual walks. His step became interrupted by sharp 
pains, and at length he could not find any rest at all. 
An entire prostration of strength suddenly succeeded a 
degree of even youthful activity and vigour ; and the 
sad conviction that his fears were realised, and that 
his life had been attempted, seized upon Clement, and 
rendered him strange even to his own eyes. His cha- 
racter was changed as by magic. The equability of 
his temper gave place to caprice, his gentleness to 
passion, and his natural easy confidence to continual 
distrust and suspicion. He saw poison and poniards 
everywhere. Sometimes, under the conviction that he 
had been poisoned, he increased his malady by ineffi- 
cacious antidotes; at other moments, in the hope of 
escaping an evil which he imagined not yet accom- 
plished, he would feed upon dishes prepared by his 
own hands. His blood became corrupted, and the 
close atmosphere of his apartments, which he would 



DEATH OF CLEMENT XIV. 



415 



not quit, aggravated the effects of an unwholesome 
diet. In this disorder of his physical system his 
moral strength gave way; all trace of the former 
Ganganelli disappeared ; and even his reason became 
disordered. He was haunted by phantoms in his short 
moments of rest ; and, in the silence of night, he started 
up continually, as if dreams of horror had struck his 
imagination. Often he ran from one place to another 
as if he was pursued, exclaiming, as in the act of 
asking mercy, " Compulsus feci ! compulsus feci !" — I 
have been compelled !* Indeed, that his reason had 
abandoned him, is generally believed ; and Pius VII., 
when prisoner at Fontainebleau in 1814, exclaimed 
that he should die mad, as Clement XIV. These words 
are reported by Cardinal Pacca, a fellow-prisoner of 
Pius.j Ganganelli passed seven months in this dread- 
ful state ; at last his reason resumed its sway. For a 
while he shewed himself superior to his terrors and 
infirmities. " He resumed some tranquillity," says 
Botta, u as generally happens some moments before 
man arrives at the last moment of his life, as a warning 
of God to mortals to think of their own affairs in that 
last moment. Already the attendants were rejoicing 
as if their master was returning to life ; but the calm 
was the forerunner of death. The fatal signs soon 
re-appeared, and on the 22d September Ganganelli 
breathed his last — giving back his courageous soul to 
Him from whom he had received it/'J 

The Romans heard of the Pope's demise with indif- 
ference, as of an event daily expected ; but the Jesuits 

* St Priest, p. 91, and following. All these details of tlie illness and 
death of Granganelli we have taken from St Priest, adding now and then 
some particulars which we have found in other writers. But St Priest 
is the best authority on the subject. He has drawn from original 
sources — the Letters of Bernis, of Florida Blanca, the History of Botta 
Gorani Caraccioli — and has condensed his materials into a most accurate 
and impartial narrative. It would be useless, then, either to send back 
our readers to those authors, or to endeavour to analyse them ourselves. 
We shall, then, be contented with some reflections or deductions at the 
proper place. 

t Ibid. % Botta, ubi supra, 



416 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



and their partisans gave an indecent and unblushing ex- 
pression to their joy, conveyed in the most infamous and 
sacrilegious satires, which they carried themselves from 
place to place ; and this circumstance, together with 
what was known of Ganganelli' s illness, left no doubts 
whatever in the people's minds that the unfortunate 
Clement had died by poison. " The human mind," 
says Gioberti, " is reluctant to believe in certain atro- 
cious crimes, and I confess that I have hesitated to 
believe the sect guilty of the death of Ganganelli; nor 
have I consented to believe it till forced by the evi- 
dence of the facts."* Although our opinion exactly 
coincides with that of our illustrious countryman, yet 
we shall put the facts and documents under the eyes 
of our readers, and let them form a judgment for 
themselves. 

What was Clement's illness? How did his strong 
and healthy constitution undergo such an instantaneous 
and fatal change ? And what complaint brought him 
to his grave ? The partisans of the Jesuits, and some 
not very well informed historians, as Gorani, for ex- 
ample, Schoel, and others, deny that Ganganelli met 
with foul play. Georgel pretends that he died of re- 
morse — that he made a full retractation ; and, in proof 
of this, he points to his habitual exclamation, " Com- 
pulsus feci I" Of his retractation we shall not speak. 
It is contested by every historian ; no mention is made 
of it except in the writings of the ex- Jesuit Georgel and 
his followers, who cannot produce a single proof or 
witness of their assertion. But is it true, at least, that 
the remorse, which had rendered him mad, asCretineau 
affirms, brought him to the grave ? We question 
whether the Jesuits can make good this other as- 
sertion. How can it be affirmed that Clement died 
of remorse, since, during eight long months after 
he had signed the Brief, he enjoyed not only his 
ordinary health and calmness, but was, on the con- 

* Gioberti, vol iii. p. 392. 



DEATH OF CLEMENT XIVo 



417 



trary, more playful than ever ? How came the re- 
morse at such a late hour? What new crime had 
he committed in the interval? Does remorse admit 
of postponement? Does remorse produce all the 
physical diseases with which Ganganelli was suddenly 
affected? The extinction of voice, the inflammation 
of the throat, vomiting, complete prostration of 
strength — are these the symptoms of remorse ? It is 
true that he often exclaimed c; Compulsus feci!" and 
asked for mercy ; but the unfortunate man asked for 
mercy from his assassins, not from the Supreme Judge. 
In his delirium, he supplicated his murderers to spare 
him ; not to repeat the dose ; or to administer to him 
some antidote, that his sufferings might cease. " Spare 
me ! spare me!" he repeated; " I have been forced to 
the act, not so much, indeed, by the sovereigns, as by 
your own iniquities. Spare me, spare me these hor- 
rible sufferings!" he cried to everybody, and called 
upon his cherished Madonna to entreat for him, and 
to put an end to his tortures. Are delirium and in- 
sanity consequences of remorse, or rather the effects 
of several poisons — the belladonna, for example ? 

But let us see what other symptoms preceded and 
accompanied his death, and we shall be better able to 
judge of the quality of the illness which brought him 
to his grave. 

" Several days before his death, his bones were 
exfoliated and withered — to use the forcible expression 
of Caraccioli — like a tree which, struck at the root, 
dies away, and sheds its bark. The scientific men who 
were called in to embalm his body, found the features 
livid, the lips black, the abdomen inflated, the limbs 
emaciated, and covered with violet spots ; the size of the 
heart was much diminished, and all the muscles de- 
tached and decomposed in the spine. They filled the 
body with perfumes and aromatic substances; but 
nothing would dispel the mephitic exhalations. The 
entrails burst the vessels in which they were deposited; 



418 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



and when his pontifical robes were taken from his body, 
a great portion of the skin adhered to them. The 
hair of his head remained entire upon the velvet pil- 
lows upon which he rested, and with the slightest 
friction his nails fell off."* The sight of Ganganelli's 
dead body was quite sufficient to satisfy every one as 
to the sort of death he had met with. It did not even 
retain those lineaments which nature leaves to our 
remains at the moment when death seizes upon them, 
and the funeral obsequies convinced all Rome that 
Clement XIV. had perished by the acqua to/ana of 
Perugia.f 

However, Dr Salicetti, the apostolic physician, and 
Adinolfi, Clement's ordinary doctor, on the 11th of 
December, three months after Ganganelli's death, gave 
in a long proces verbal, declaring that it was false that 
the Pope had been poisoned ; but they adduced no 
proofs whatever, and explained the fact of the body's 
corruption by such strange and suspicious reasons, as 
rather to strengthen than diminish the opinion of those 
who thought differently. The fact is, that in Rome, 
after the doctors' statement was made public, even the 
few who had some doubts as to the cause of this 
mysterious death, were now firmly of opinion that the 
Jesuits had poisoned the poor Pope. Gioberti, among 
other proofs which he adduces of the poisoning of 
Ganganelli, names a Dr Bonelli, famous for learning 
and probity, almost an ocular witness of the facts, who 
had often asserted to many persons still living that 
there was no doubt that Ganganelli had been poisoned. 

But there is a witness far more respectable and 
trustworthy, who puts the question beyond doubt: 

* St Priest, p. 92. 

+ It is a popular tradition, and, indeed, not at all unfounded, that in 
Perugia some persons had the secret of composing a sort of water which, 
when drunk, produced certain death, although life was prolonged for 
more or less space of time, according to the quantity and strength of the 
dose given. The nuns, in particular, had a sad celebrity for composing 
this drug. 



DEATH OP CLEMENT XIV. 



419 



that witness is Bernis ; and no one that knows any- 
thing of the loyalty and nobleness of his character, 
would ever dare to impugn his testimony in an affair 
of such magnitude, when he, as ambassador, gives an 
account to his court of facts of which he was an eye* 
witness. Bernis, during the illness of the Pope, while 
every other person believed that Clement had met 
with foul play, alone had doubts ; and his very hesita- 
tion, which proves his candour, leads him more surely 
to the discovery of the truth, which he attains step 
by step.* 

On the 28th of August, twenty-four days before 
Ganganelli's death, he wrote to the French minister : 
" Those who judge imprudently, or with malice, see 
nothing natural in the condition of the Pope ; reason- 
ings and suspicions are hazarded with the greater fa- 
cility, as certain atrocities are less rare in this country 
than in many others." Six days after the Pope's 
demise, on the 28th of September, he wrote : " The 
nature of the Pope's malady, and, above all, the cir- 
cumstances attending his death, give rise to a common 
belief that it has not been from natural causes. . . . 
Thy physicians who assisted at the opening of the 
body are cautious in their remarks, and the surgeons 
speak with less circumspection. It is better to credit 
the account of the former than to pry into a truth of 
too afflicting a nature, and which it would perhaps be 
distressing to discover." A month after, Bernis' 
doubts are vanished, and on the 26th of October he 
writes : " When others shall come to know as much 
as I do, from certain documents which the late Pope 
communicated to me, the suppression will be deemed 
very just and very necessary. The circumstances 
which have preceded, accompanied, and followed 
the death of the late Pope, excite equal horror 
and compassion. ... I am now collecting together 
the true circumstances attending the malady and 
* St Priest, p. 93. 



420 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



death of Clement XIV.,* who, the Vicar of Jesus 
Christ, prayed, like the Redeemer, for his most im- 
placable enemies ; and who carried his conscientious- 
ness so far, as scarcely to let escape him the cruel 
suspicions which preyed upon his mind since the close 
of the holy week, the period when his malady seized 
him. The truth cannot be concealed from the king, 
sad as it may be, which will be recorded in history/' 

But there is another and a more imposing testimony 
to the fact — that of Pope Pius VI., the successor of 
Clement XIV. ; it is transmitted to us also by Bernis, 
who speaks in the following cool and dispassionate 
terms, more than three years after the death of Gan- 
ganelli. He wrote on the 26th of October 1777, as 
follows : — " I know better than any one how far the 
affection of Pius VI. for the ex- Jesuits extends ; but 
he keeps on terms with them rather than love them, 
because fear has greater influence on his mind and 
heart than friendship. . . . The Pope has certain 
moments of frankness, in which his true sentiments 
shew themselves. I shall never forget three or four 
effusions of his heart which he betrayed when with 
me, by which I can judge that he was well aware of 
the unhappy end of his predecessor, and that he was 
anxious not to run the same risks." f 

Such was the end of a man born with the best pos- 
sible dispositions, and endowed with truly noble and 
amiable qualities. His spirit of tolerance, above all, 
deserves the highest eulogium. He tolerated all sorts 
of opinions, provided they were expressed in decorous 
language ; and although he condemned the doctrines 
of the philosophers, he kept on good terms with them. 
He would not, as Benedict XIV. had done, write to 
Voltaire ; but, in answer to some sporting jests made 
upon his person, which were reported to him, he inti- 
mated to the Patriarch of Ferney, through his old 

* St Priest could not find those documents anywhere. 
+ See all those letters in St Priest, p. 93, and following. 



DEATH OF CLEMENT XIY. 



421 



friend De Bernis, that he " would willingly take him 
to his heart, provided he would end by becoming a 
good Capuchin." * 

Ganganelli was, no doubt, a man incapable of 
governing under difficult circumstances. He had 
neither energy nor skill enough in handling diffi- 
culties, and he placed all his merits in evading them. 
But his moderation, his genuine spirit of tolerance, 
the purity of his morals, his modesty, his benevolence, 
deserve the sincerest respect, and his deplorable death 
& lasting compassion.j 

* St Priest, p. 78. 

■f It is commonly reported in Italy, and it is also believed in France, 
that on the day commemorating Ganganelli's death, every year, the 
J esuits, at least those who are deep in the secrets of the order, assemble 
in a room, and, after one of them has addressed a volley of curses and 
imprecations against Clement's memory, every person present pierces his 
image with a poniard. We repeat the popular belief, without, however, 
warranting its correctness. 



2 E 



422 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

1773-1814. 

THE JESUITS DURING- THEIR SUPPRESSION. 

The Brief of Suppression, as our readers may have 
seen, made a provision by which the Jesuits might, 
as secular priests and individuals, exercise sacerdotal 
functions, subject, of course, to the episcopal authority. 
In consequence, some few of them had settled them- 
selves quietly in different capacities. Others thought 
to conceal the Ignatian device under the new title of 
Fathers of the Faith, Fathers of the Cross, &c. But 
the greater part, the most daring and restless, would 
not submit to the Brief of Suppression, impugned its 
validity in a thousand writings, called in question even 
the validity of Clement's election, whom they called 
Parricide, Sacrilegious Simoniac, and considered 
themselves as still forming part of the still existing 
Company of Jesus. Regardless, as we have shewn 
they always were, of the injuries they may cause to 
the faith, they declared war against Rome, against 
religion, and surpassed even the school of Voltaire in 
audacity in mocking and insulting a virtuous Pope.* 
Although overwhelmed on every side, they were not 
daunted, and their courage was still greater than their 
misfortunes. Driven from those countries in which 
they had been nurtured and cherished, and which 
ought to have been their natural abode, they turned 

* St Priest, p. 97. 



THE JESUITS DURING THEIR SUPPRESSION. 423 



their regards to the camp of their former enemies. 
As Themistocles, seeking protection from his ungrate- 
ful country, under the canopy of that Persian throne 
which he had shaken and almost destroyed, so those 
fiery persecutors of all religious sects which were 
out of the pale of Rome, and especially the Lutherans, 
had recourse for protection to the Lutheran Frederick 
of Prussia, and to the schismatic Catherine of Russia ; 
and we do not hesitate to advance that, had those 
monarchs, in exchange for some advantages and privi- 
leges, asked of them to combat the Papal doctrines, 
they would not have imitated the Athenian hero, but 
would have fought against the Roman Catholic re- 
ligion with the same ardour which they had employed 
in defending it. 

But if it is easy to understand the versatile and in- 
terested behaviour of the Jesuits, strange must appear 
the conduct of the sovereigns who gave them protec- 
tion and help. Above all, the anomalous proceeding 
of Frederick, the Solomon of the North, as the philo- 
sophers called him, ought to be explained. 

We have already seen that Ricci, in his examination, 
confessed that he was in correspondence with his 
Prussian majesty; and it is a fact that Frederick, 
even before the suppression of the Society, proved 
himself its friend and protector, notwithstanding the 
reproaches and sneers of his friends and masters, the 
philosophers. D'Alembert, above all, assailed the king 
in all his vulnerable points ; but in vain : Frederick 
remained firm in his purpose of supporting the Jesuits. 
" They say," wrote D'Alembert on the 16th June 
1769 to his royal friend, " that the cordelier Gan- 
ganelli does not promise sweet meats (poires molles) 
to the Society of Jesus, and it may be that St Francis 
of Assisi may kill St Ignatius. It appears to me that 
the holy father, cordelier as he is, will commit a great 
blunder in thus disbanding his regiment of guards out 
of complaisance to the Catholic princes. It seems to 



424 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



ine that this treaty resembles much that of the wolves 
with the sheep, which were obliged, as a principal 
condition, to give up their dogs. Every one knows 
how they fared for this. However, it will be singular, 
sire, that while their most Christian, most Catholic, 
most Apostolic, and most Faithful majesties endeavour 
to destroy the grenadiers of the most Holy See, your 
most heretic majesty should be the only one who 
wishes to preserve thera." 

This letter was written, as may be seen, before the 
suppression, and many other missives were addressed 
to Berlin by D'Alembert after the Brief was issued. 
When the Jesuits of Silesia, refusing to obey the 
Papal orders, remained in their convents and houses 
as before, and acted as if nothing had happened, 
D'Alembert, on the 10th of December 1773, wrote to 
Frederick, telling him that he " wished that neither 
he nor his successors might ever have cause to repent 
of granting an asylum to intriguers, and that these 
men might prove more faithful than they had been in 
the last war of Silesia/' Another time, sneering at 
Frederick's condescension, he says, that " he much 
doubted whether the Jesuits would ever pay his majesty 
the honour of admitting him to their order, as they 
did the great Louis XIV., though he could well have 
dispensed with it, and the poor, miserable James II., 
who was much more fit to be a Jesuit than a king." 
— January 1774. And passing from personal argu- 
ments to more general considerations, he says : "It is 
not on your majesty's account that I dread the re- 
establishment of these formerly self-styled Jesuits, as 
the late Parliament of Paris called them. What harm, 
indeed, could they do to a prince whom the Austrians, 
the Imperialists, the French, and the Swedes united, 
have been unable to deprive of a single village ? But 
I am alarmed, sire, lest other princes, who have not 
the same power as you have to make head against all 
Europe, and who have weeded out this poisonous hem- 



THE JESUITS DURING THEIR SUPPRESSION. 425 

lock from their gardens, should one day take a fancy- 
to come to you and borrow seed to scatter their ground 
anew. I earnestly hope your majesty will issue an 
edict to forbid for ever the exportation of Jesuitic 
grain, which can thrive nowhere but in your do- 
minions."* 

Frederick remained unmoved ; and when the Roman 
Catholic Archbishop of Breslau, thinking it was his 
duty to see the orders of the Holy See obeyed, at- 
tempted to interdict the Jesuits, the king interfered, 
confiscated the bishopric, and haughtily proclaimed 
that the fathers were under his protection. Then 
all throughout Silesia sprung up a great number of 
houses and colleges, and J esuits assembled here from 
all quarters. It was on this occasion that the old Vol- 
taire, laughing at his quondam disciple's strange con- 
duct, exclaimed that " it would divert him beyond 
measure to think of Frederick as General of the 
Jesuits, and that he hoped that this would inspire the 
Pope with the idea of becoming mufti." f 

Meanwhile, the courts of France and Spain were 
pressing Ganganelli's successor to execute rigorously 
the Brief of Suppression, pointing out all the different 
places, and especially Prussia, where the Jesuits were 
still in existence and prospering, and asking, not 
without a certain arrogance, the Pope to comply with 
their wishes. But the reigning Pontiff was not a man 
to be easily frightened. To the humble, plain, unpre- 
tending monk had succeeded, on the chair of St Peter, 
Ange Braschi, a prince in the best acceptance of the 
word. In the Conclave, he, after a long struggle be- 
tween the two parties, had re-united the votes of both, 
as a man really indifferent to all political intrigues, 
but possessing in the highest degree qualities which 
commanded esteem and admiration, and as one who 
could restore to the low-fallen tiara some of its ancient 

* D'Alembert to Frederick. April 24, 1774. 
f St Priest, p. 144. 



426 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



splendour ; and if any man could accomplish such a 
miracle, Braschi was indeed the man. In all his per- 
sonal qualities shone forth something royal and great. 
Tall, handsome, with a slightly bald forehead, his 
features were impressed with majesty, tempered by a 
sweet and serene expression. His expenditure was 
royal, his magnificence such as Rome had not witnessed 
since the time of Leo X. His ideas were lofty and 
great, his love for the arts enlightened and persever- 
ing. Many are the monuments which he has left to 
posterity of his love for the arts and for useful enter- 
prises. He formed and enriched the museum begun 
under his directions in the Pontificate of Clement, 
which, as we said, bears the name of Museo Pio-Cle- 
mentino, and which is the greatest wonder of modern 
times. He spent an immense sum of money to prevent 
the entire fall of the Coliseum. He attempted, though 
with little success, to drain the Pontine Marshes, and 
was a generous friend and protector of all literary per- 
sons. In his capacity of Pope, Pius VI.— such was 
the name he assumed — was also extraordinary. 
While he opposed every reform, even the most neces- 
sary and urgent, and decided upon taking the 
singular step of going himself — the Pope — to Vienna 
to dissuade Joseph II. from accomplishing them, in 
Rome, the churches and his own chapel were filled 
with persons of all religions, to whom Pius granted the 
same protection and favour as to his own subjects. 

In regard to the Jesuits, in which we are 
more particularly interested, Braschi, according to 
Bernis, neither loved nor hated them. He was per- 
suaded that they had poisoned Ganganelli ; and as ho 
set an immense value on his own life, he would not 
endanger it by following the example of his prede- 
cessor. It seems that Pius, naturally of a benevolent 
disposition, pitied them ; and, if he had not feared to 
irritate the Bourbons, would perhaps have bettered 
their condition. Under him the Jesuits made Titanic 



THE JESUITS DURING THEIR SUPPRESSION. 



427 



efforts to regain the position they had lost. They as- 
sembled in Rome, and set at work every engine which 
was still at their disposal, to attain their desired ob- 
ject ; but in vain. Florida Blanca was implacable in his 
hatred toward the disciples of Loyola, and, as we have 
said, made the strongest remonstrances against the 
favour which he pretended was shewn to the Jesuits by 
the Court of Rome. Braschia, as we say, was not so pusil- 
lanimous as Ganganelli, and those intrigues or diplomatic 
negotiations were not able to affect him so much as to dis- 
turb his constant placid serenity ; yet he thought proper 
to do something to appease the Bourbons, and live on 
good terms with everybody. He accordingly sent a 
copy of the remonstrances he had received from Spain 
and France to Frederick, asking him to withdraw his 
protection from those monks whom the Holy See had 
condemned. Frederick's satiric spirit must have re- 
joiced to see the Pope implore him to disperse Roman 
Catholic votaries; but he answered scornfully, as a 
great monarch aware of his rights and dignity. The 
Pope insisted anew with infinite management, till at 
last Frederick, while maintaining the Jesuits in all 
their revenues and charges, consented that they should 
change their garb. The Pope, satisfied perhaps with 
this solution, wrote to the King of Spain: "I have 
done all in my power ; but the King of Prussia is 
master in his own dominions." 

The accurate and impartial historian of the fall of 
the Jesuits, in an admirably well written chapter, ex- 
plains the conduct of Frederick, in supporting the 
Jesuits, by the fact, that the Prussian monarch 
had got angry with the philosophers, when the 
latter, not content with attacking the Christian 
religion, set to work to destroy monarchy, and 
ridicule every noble sentiment which had till then 
been held sacred. He says that not only Frederick, 
but almost all the ministers of other princes, if not 
the princes themselves, and the aristocracy, far from 



428 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



restraining the audacity of the philosophers, had, to 
follow the fashion, made it a point of honour to 
encourage and protect it while attacking religion and 
priestcraft ; but when they, leaving the churches and 
cloisters, penetrated into the antechambers and state- 
rooms, and their attacks became personal, then the 
great of the world, who had treated Christ and the 
Apostles with irreverence, would not endure the like 
towards themselves. He says, moreover, that when 
the school of D'Holbach produced the too famous work, 
the Systeme de la Nature, Frederick's indignation 
knew no bounds. In this book, in fact, written by 
thirty clever, daring, and excited individuals, nothing 
was left standing : <£ each of them found something to 
take to pieces ; one began upon the soul ; another, the 
body; one attacked paternal love, gratitude, con- 
science ; all subjects were examined, dissected, dis- 
puted, denied, condemned loudly without appeal. It 
was a kind of Old Testament, which prefigured the 
new by types and symbols. . e . Frederick read 
this hideous but prophetic book ; a fatal light gleamed 
across his mind, and made him dread the future." * 
All this is admirably well said; and by the answer 
which the King of Prussia made to the Systeme de la 
Nature, it clearly appears that Frederick would not 
go the length of the new school, and wished to have 
nothing more to do with them. 

But, with all deference to the noble writer, we can- 
i not see what connexion existed between the King of 
Prussia fearing the downfal of monarchical government 
and the protection he granted to the Jesuits. Does 
the French historian pretend to affirm that Frederick, 
the clear-sighted and remarkably sensible Frederick, 
considered the Jesuits in the light in which they them- 
selves desired to be viewed, namely, as the foremost 
defenders of the throne and the altar ? We scarcely 
should have believed St Priest capable of attributing 

*St Priest, p. 155. 



THE JESUITS DURING THEIR SUPPRESSION. 429 



to such a man as Frederick so erroneous a notion, yet 
his words leave little doubt that this is the opinion he 
attributed to his majesty. But, it may be asked, if 
this is not the case, how, then, shall we account for 
the favour bestowed by the Prussian monarch on 
those detested monks ? We believe that, by assigning, 
as the efficient and principal causes, those which St 
Priest, in a dubitable tone, esteems only as secondary, 
we should be nearer the truth. The first of those 
reasons is to be found in what the king wrote 
himself to D'Alembert : " I did not offer," said he, 
" my protection to the Jesuits while they were power- 
ful, but in their adversity : I consider them as learned 
men, whom it would be extremely difficult to replace 
to educate youth. This most important object ren- 
ders them most valuable in my eyes ; for, among all 
the Catholic clergy in my kingdom, the Jesuits alone 
are given to letters;" and this was true as regarded 
the newly-acquired province of Silesia. The other 
all-powerful and efficient reason, which the French 
writer little insists upon, is, that Frederick wished, 
through the agency of the Jesuits, to gain the good- 
will of those Poles whom he had so shamefully be- 
trayed. We have seen what immense influence the 
Jesuits possessed over the Poles. It is known what 
authority they exercised everywhere over ignorant 
and bigoted Papists. Frederick knew this, and was 
very well aware that the J esuits, who had no other 
asylum but his estates, would, without being asked, of 
their own free-will, do their utmost to persuade the 
unfortunate Poles who had been despoiled of their 
nationality, and who had been set up in lots as the booty 
of a conquered town, to endure patiently the yoke of 
the new master for their oivn personal interest and 
the greater glory of God. This was the all-powerful 
motive which induced Frederick to stand forth as the 
protector of a brotherhood for which he could not have 
any sort of esteem, but which he in no way feared. 



430 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



The same motive induced Catherine II. to grant 
them a refuge and protection in her estates, and espe- 
cially in White Russia, formerly a province of Poland, 
but which, in the partition, had fallen to the lot of the 
Russian sovereign. 

Nor was Catherine deceived in her expectation. 
The Jesuits at first proved of immense service to her. 
Before the first partition of the unfortunate Poland in 
1772, the fathers resided at Polotsk, in a magnificent 
college, surrounded by an immense tract of land, cul- 
tivated for the fathers' benefit by more than ten 
thousand serfs, partly on the right and partly on the 
left bank of the river Dwina. After the Brief of Sup- 
pression, the Jesuits found themselves either obliged 
to submit to the sentence of the Holy See, and cease 
to exist as a body, or to accept the offered protection 
of Catherine. They embraced the latter alternative, 
abandoned the left bank of the Dwina, which was 
still Polish, for the right bank, which was now Russian, 
and there not only preserved their garb and their 
name, but obtained the favour that the Brief of Suppres- 
sion should not be published in all the Russian states. 
From that moment, setting at defiance the Papal autho- 
rity, those monks, who, as a religious community, 
could have no existence without the consent of Rome, 
established in Russia a sort of patriarchate, a supreme 
seat of the Roman Catholic religion, represented by 
individuals who, by a solemn decision of the supreme 
chief of this same religion, were excommunicated and 
out of its pale. 

Meanwhile, Ricci was dying in the state prison of 
Castel St Angelo. Pius VI. had not dared to set him 
at liberty, but had rendered his captivity as support- 
able as possible. Yet the old man expired in Novem- 
ber 1775, making an insignificant testament, exculpat- 
ing the Society from every charge which had been 
brought against it.* 

* See this Testament in Cretineau, vol. v. p. 401^ and ff. 



THE JESUITS DURING THEIR SUPPRESSION. 431 



The Jesuits in Russia, some time after they had 
heard of the death of Ricci, convened a general 
congregation to elect a vicar-general, with full au- 
thority over all those members who should consider 
themselves as Jesuits. This being accomplished, they 
pitched upon a man worthy of their protection, Sies- 
trencewiecz, formerly a Calvinist, now a priest of equi- 
vocal orthodoxy, as are all those converts who have left 
their former religion from motives of personal interest 
or consideration; and through his agency they trusted to 
revive the Society. This is the method they adopted : 
They prevailed upon Catherine to nominate him 
Bishop of Mohilow, and have one of their number, 
Benislawski, appointed his coadjutor. The latter, 
supported by the authority of the empress, proceeded 
to Rome, boldly presented himself at the Vatican, and 
required the Pope to grant the Pallium to Siestrence- 
wiecz, the man whom they had chosen as bishop ; and 
as he could not at first get admittance to the Pope's 
presence, he firmly declared, that, should he spend his 
whole life in the antechamber, he would not quit it until 
he was satisfied on every point. And he succeeded in 
his mission. Now, this Siestrencewiecz, who was after- 
wards named Legate for White Russia, at once per- 
mitted the Jesuits to erect a novitiate, and to receive 
candidates for the Society, regardless of any other 
consideration but that of pleasing his protectors. The 
Nuncio of Warsaw, and the Court of Rome, on hear- 
ing of such an abuse of authority, reproached him 
with this violation of the Papal decrees, and menaced 
him with interdiction ; but Catherine took him under 
her protection, and upheld him with all her power. 
And thus was presented the singular spectacle of a 
Popish prelate denounced by the Holy See for uphold- 
ing a sect of priests accounted the most fervent Roman 
Catholics, while he was defended by a princess for 
affording protection to these same priests, who, as 
devotees of Rome, were the bitter enemies of her own 



432 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



faith. The Jesuits, emboldened by the favour they 
obtained in Russia, acted entirely at their own discre- 
tion, conferred upon the Vicar- General the title and 
the absolute authority of General, named an assistant 
and an admonitor, received novices and scholastics, 
and nothing seemed changed in the Society excepting 
the residence of the General. 

To exculpate them from these continued acts of 
rebellion against the Papal authority, Cretineau, and 
after him Curci, a Neapolitan Jesuit, assert, that 
although Pope Pius VI. had not, by any public act, 
re-established the Society, yet that he had, in the pre- 
sence of Benislaivski (mark !), pronounced the words, 
" Approbo Societatem Jesu in Alba Russia degentem ; 
approbo, approbo," — I approve of the Society of Jesus 
residing in White Russia ; I approve, I approve. We 
suppose we must rely upon the veracity of Father 
Benislawski for this revelation of the sentiments of the 
Holy Father. 

Three or four obscure and insignificant names* suc- 
ceeded one another as Generals of the Order, while it 
still laboured under the anathema launched by 
Clement. At last, Pius VII., w^ho had succeeded 
Braschi in 1800, authorised the Society to establish 
itself in White Russia, and to live according to the 
Constitution of Loyola. This brief bears the date of 
1801, and was the forerunner of their re-establish- 
inent. 

Meanwhile, the Society made wonderful progress in 
Russia ; and, as if all conspired to favour them, there 
chanced to be among them at the epoch a man whom 
they had the tact to choose for their General, and 
who was little inferior to the Lainez and Acquavivas. 
This man was Grouber, a learned and very able in- 
dividual, who had long been at the court of St Peters- 
burg, a welcomed guest of Catherine, much esteemed 
by Paul, and employed by Alexander on some deli- 
* Czerniwiecz, Lenkeawiecz, and Korell, 



THE JESUITS DURING THEIR SUPPRESSION. 433 

cate missions. Grouber was a man who had an exact 
and just idea of the times in which he lived, and 
repressed the immoderate zeal of prosely tism displayed 
by his subordinates, who already spoke of working 
miracles, and establishing new missions in the East. 
Grouber received the congratulations of all the par- 
tisans of the Jesuits, and, with admirable dexterity, he 
made use of the influence and resources the Society 
still possessed, to obtain the re-establishment of the 
order in various parts. They had already re-en- 
tered Parma, though only on toleration, and in 1804, 
the Pope granted to the Jesuits of the two Sicilies the 
same favours he had granted to those of White Russia* 
He re-established them in Sicily, of course under the 
authority of the General residing in Russia. 

Unfortunately for the Society, Grouber perished in a 
conflagration in 1805. After his death, the Jesuits, 
renouncing the wise policy adopted by their late 
General, and encouraged by partial success, returned 
to the inveterate policy of the order, and attempted 
to domineer over a country which had sheltered them 
during their days of trouble and misery. 

No pages of ours could convey to our readers a 
more accurate idea of the conduct of the Jesuits in 
Russia, than a passage of the imperial decree by 
which Alexander expelled them from his capital. We 
consider this expulsion, and the motives alleged by 
the sovereign as having impelled him to adopt the 
measure, as most significant, and as stigmatising more 
forcibly than any pamphlet or declamation the 
abominable arts and practices of the incorrigible 
progeny of Loyola. 

Alexander, after having recorded, that while the 
Jesuits were persecuted in the rest of Europe, Russia 
alone, from a spirit of humanity and tolerance, had pro- 
tected them, had showered favours upon them, had put 
no constraint on the free exercise of their religion, and 
had confided to their care the education of youth; 



434 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



thus continued in the imperial document : " It has been, 
however, proved that they have not relished the duties 
imposed on them by gratitude, and that humility com- 
manded by the Christian religion. Instead of remaining 
peaceable inhabitants of a foreign land, they have 
endeavoured to disturb the Greek religion, which, 
from time immemorial, has been the predominant 
religion in this country. They began by abusing the 
confidence they had obtained, and have turned away 
from our religion young men who had been intrusted 
to them, and some weak and ignorant women whom 
they have converted to their own Church. To induce 
a man to abjure his faith, the faith of his ancestors, to 
extinguish in him the love of those who profess the 
same belief, to render him a stranger to his country, 
' r o sow tares and animosity among families, to tear 
the son from the father, the daughter from the mother, 
to stir up division among the children of the same 
Church, — is that the voice and the will of God, and of 
his holy Son Jesus Christ? • . . After such 
actions, we are no more surprised that these monks 
are expelled from all countries and nowhere tolerated. 
Where, in fact, is the state that would tolerate in 
its bosom those who sow in it hatred and discord ? " 
For all these reasons, the emperor, in 1815, expelled 
the J esuits from St Petersburg, and forbade them to 
re-enter either that capital or Warsaw. And mark, 
that to prove that he did not expel them because 
they were Catholic priests, the emperor, in the same 
decree, adds, that he has already sent for monks of 
other orders for the benefit of his Roman Catholic 
subjects ! 

But let no one imagine that this severe admonition 
from a sovereign to whom and to whose ancestors the 
Jesuits were so deeply indebted, had the effect of 
bringing them to some sense of their duty. On the 
contrary, they redoubled their intrigues and their ma- 
lignant practices ; and as their numbers increased, ra- 



THE JESUITS DURING THEIR SUPPRESSION. 435 

pidly rising in 1820 to 674,* and they might have be- 
come dangerous, Alexander, by another decree, of 13th 
March 1820, expelled them from all his dominions. 
In the statement of motives which the Minister of 
Worship presented to Alexander in asking for the 
expulsion, we read : " The expulsion of the Jesuits 
from St Petersburg has not made them change their 
conduct ; " and it then goes on to enumerate all the 
mischiefs caused by the fathers in Russia and Poland. 
We can hardly imagine what the Jesuits can have to 
answer to these accusations. It is also to be remarked 
that their own creature, Siestrencewiecz, Archbishop of 
Mohilow, was one of the most ardent in procuring 
their expulsion. 

No Jesuits are now in Russia or Poland, except 
those who, in Galicia, assist the Austrian sovereign tc 
govern that province — every one knows how. 

* Cret. vol. vi. p. 33. 



4?6 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

1814. 

RE-ESTABLISHMENT. 

The events whi#h. took place in Europe in 1814 are 
known to every one. Napoleon, who represented 
abroad that sain e French Revolution which his military 
despotism had smothered at home, fell under the 
united efforts of Europe, favoured by the elements 
and by the treachery of his former companions in 
arms, to whom he had given either the staff of the 
field-marshal or the sceptre of the king. The restora- 
tion of all the dethroned sovereigns followed, and on 
re-entering their dominions, these monarchs directed 
all their cares to obliterate even the remembrance 
(foolish and useless attempt !) of all that had been done, 
said, and published, in the past time of hurricane and 
revolution, and hurried back with inconsiderate earnest- 
ness to their old and primitive system of governing. 
The Jesuits, skilful in profiting by every circum- 
stance, then stepped forward, and offered to those 
sovereigns their unconditional services. Already, 
after their suppression, and during the ascendant 
march of the French Revolution, they, with infinite 
address, had persuaded the different sovereigns, either 
menaced on their thrones or already hurled from 
them, that their overthrow — the crimes which, it is 
unfortunately true, in a moment of delirium, had been 
committed in the name of liberty — the impious and 



RE-ESTABLISHMENT. 



437 



suDversive doctrines which had invaded Europe, and 
extinguished every sense of morality and religion — - 
all were to be attributed to the suppression of the 
order. They asserted that the Encyclopaedists, after 
the destruction of the Society, the surest bulwark of 
the throne and the altar, finding no more opposition, 
and passing from theory to practice, had caused the 
revolution, and set the whole of Europe in a blazing 
conflagration ; and this is even now 1 epeated by the 
fathers and their partisans. We must, before pro- 
ceeding any farther, give the answer Gioberti 
makes to their assertions. He grants that the 
Encyclopaedists did make the revolution. " But," says 
he, " the Society, by altering and disfiguring, in the 
opinion of many, the Catholic faith, the morality 
of the gospel, the authority of princes, and all those 
fundamental laws which form the basis of all states 
and governments — in fact, by substituting for religion 
their own sect — had shaken all principles of 
morality, religion, and good government, and had 
indeed brought the Encyclopaedists into existence ; the 
most conspicuous of whom, in fact, as Voltaire, Dide- 
rot, Helvetius, Marmontel, St Lambert, Lametrie, and 
many others, had issued from Jesuitical colleges, or 
had had Jesuits as their tutors." * 

However, these monks, who, as we have seen, had. 
conspired against the life and independence of. 
almost all the sovereigns of Europe, now had the art 
to persuade the reigning monarchs that they would 
be always insecure on their thrones without the as- 
sistance and the support of the Company ; and, strange 
to say, some actually believed them, while others 
feigned to do so. From that moment to our days, in the 
eyes of such bigoted and short-sighted despots as the 
Ferdinands of Naples, the Leopolds of Tuscany, the 
Francis Josephs of Austria, and all the supporters of 
absolutism, the Jesuits have been considered as the 

* Vol. iii. p. 30. 
2 p 



438 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



best pillars and supporters of despotism and tyranny. 
Nor is this belief destitute of foundation so far as 
the intentions of the fathers are concerned. The 
Liberals in our time are in their eyes what the Re- 
formers were two centuries back. Against them are 
now directed all their efforts; the Liberals are now 
the accursed of God, the impious whom all the courage 
and ability of the sons of Ignatius can hardly keep at 
bay. Nor is this the first time that these mendacious 
and impudent monks have contrived to impose them- 
selves on different states, representing their interfer- 
ence as indispensable to the welfare of society and to 
the repression of its enemies. Thus they had imposed 
themselves as necessary to combat the Reformers in 
the sixteenth century, the Jansenists and Calvinists in 
the seventieth, and again, in the eighteenth, the philo- 
sophers and the approaching revolution ; although it 
was not till very late, and when the first persecutions 
had awakened them from their state of beatitude, 
that they proclaimed themselves the opponents of the 
Encyclopaedists. In the nineteenth century, the adver- 
saries with whom they are wont to contend are, as 
we said, the Liberals; and the fathers must, indeed, be 
skilful and powerful instruments for suppressing all 
ideas of liberty, all free aspiration, all generous senti- 
ments, all personal dignity, and for keeping the 
people in servitude, since the supremely cunning 
Louis Napoleon has chosen them as his most useful 
auxiliaries, and lavished on them all sorts of favours. 

Among the sovereigns who, in 1814, re-ascended 
the thrones from which a daring and unscrupulous 
conqueror had hurled them, was the old Pontiff, who, 
after his captivity at Fontainebleau, had, on the 24th 
of May, re-entered Rome amidst unfeigned marks of 
love and veneration from his people. Indeed, the man 
who at this epoch occupied the pontifical chair was, for 
many reasons, worthy of the greatest admiration and 
respect. This person was Barnaba Chiaramonti, a 



RE -ESTABLISHMENT. 



439 



Benedictine monk, who assumed the name of Pius VII. 
His life was pure and uncontaminated ; his intentions 
were good ; his character was mild and benevolent ; 
and before his misfortunes, he had shewn some readi- 
ness to make concessions required by the times and 
the circumstances ; but after his captivity, after the 
series of direct miseries which had befallen him and 
the Sacred College, miseries which he attributed to the~ 
spirit of irreligion then prevalent in Europe, Pius 
VII., now a feeble old man, gave way to all the pro- 
pensities of a fanatical, bigoted monk, which in his 
better days he had subdued and restrained by reason- 
ing. His first care, therefore, was to re-establish all 
the monastic orders he could, and among the first was 
that of the Jesuits, who had already flocked to Rome 
from every part, with the certainty of soon re-acquiring 
their former position and splendour. Nor were they 
disappointed in their expectations. On Sunday, the 
7th of August 1814, Pius VII. went in state to the 
church of the Gesu, celebrated himself the mass before 
the altar consecrated to Loyola; heard a second 
mass, immediately after which he caused to be read 
and promulgated the bull by which the Society of 
Jesus was re-established according to the ancient 
rules. 

Party writers, too eager to find Popes in contra- 
diction with each other, and to hold up their pre- 
tended infallibility to the ridicule of their readers, 
have taken up these two acts, and asked, " Who 
was infallible — Clement XIV., who abolished the 
Society, or Pius VII., who re-established it?" We 
do not aspire to so easy a triumph, and we shall 
consider Chiaramonti's bull in a somewhat more seri- 
ous manner. 

In our opinion, the bull of Pius VII. is less in con- 
tradiction than may be supposed with the brief of 
Clement. Pius does not in the least condemn either 
the brief or its author ; nor does he say that it had 



440 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



been extorted, as Ganganelli said of the bull of Eez- 
zonnico. On the contrary, he speaks of it as of a 
legal and perfectly authoritative act by which the 
Company had ceased to exist ; and when he is obliged 
in some sort to annul it, he does not annul it, ex- 
cept in that part which is contrary to his own bull, 
namely, that which affects the existence of the Society. 
In the whole bull there is not a word, not a syllable, 
to contradict or to weaken the long list of terrible 
accusations brought against them by Clement. If it 
was an injustice done to the Jesuits, which Pius wished 
to repair, he ought at least to have mentioned that 
they had been wronged, and that it was the duty of 
the Supreme Chief of the Church to reinstate them 
in the good estimation of Europe. But the bull is 
silent as to any such wrongs, and is very chary of its 
commendations of the sons of Ignatius. Why, then* 
one may ask, did Pius VII. re-establish the Company 
of J esus ? First, as I have stated, because he was a 
bigoted monk, and thought that it might be in the 
power of the fanatical and idle brotherhoods of all 
kinds to extinguish the light spread by the new doc- 
trines, and to bring humanity back to the blessed 
darkness of the middle ages. In other words, he 
thought, and many of the sovereigns, some of them 
not Roman Catholics, thought w T ith him, that the 
priests and monks would be able to arrest the pro- 
gress of civilisation ; for it must be remembered that 
the horrors and acts of barbarity which were com- 
mitted during the last ten years of the eighteenth 
century, and which were the consequences of a forced 
and exaggerated application of the new theories on 
government and religion, could in no way be laid to 
the charge of the doctrines themselves, which are cal- 
culated to promote the real and beneficent progress 
of society. Besides Chiaramonti's predilection for all 
monks, to whose re-establishment, as he says in the 
bull, " all his care and all his solicitude are given" 



EE-ESTABLISHMENT. 



441 



Pius was requested by all the sovereigns to re-esta- 
blish the Company ; and he says that he should con- 
sider himself as wanting in his duty if, while the 
bark of Peter was tossed to and fro amidst dangerous 
rocks, he should disdain the help of those vigorous 
and experienced rowers. 

Such were the motives, of a purely political nature 
on the part of the sovereigns, and of a mixed nature 
on the part of the Pope, which induced the former to 
request, and the latter to grant, a new existence to the 
Society of Jesus. But observe, that in the act itself, 
by which he reinstated the order, Pius reserved to 
the Holy See the power of modifying it if its provi- 
sions were abused. He subjects the members of the 
Company, in the exercise of all their spiritual functions, 
to the jurisdiction of the ordinaries, thus despoiling it 
of the most precious of its privileges, the whole of 
which he expressly recalls. And the bull is still more 
significant, when it conjures all the members of the 
Society to return to the primitive rules of Ignatius, 
and to take him as their model. The Pontiff does not 
say, return to your occupation, to those exercises in 
which you were engaged before the Suppression. But 
he tells them to return to the primitive spirit of their 
institution, from which they had so far departed. 
The noble and virtuous Pontiff hoped that their past 
misfortunes would have instructed those inconsiderate 
and wicked monks, and warned them not to incur 
again the hatred of Christendom. Vain hopes ! use- 
less admonitions ! Before fifteen years shall pass, the 
whole of Europe, except, perhaps, some despots and 
their supporters, will look anxiously for the happy 
day when the troublesome progeny of Ignatius shall 
be irrevocably banished from its bosom ! 

However, as the bull is very short, we shall submit 
it to the calm and serious consideration of our readers, 
and we feel confident that they will form the same 
opinion of it that we have done, namely, that in the 



442 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



act itself, in which Pius re-establishes the Jesuits, he 
modifies their institutions and condemns their past 
conduct. 

" Bull for the Re-establishment of the Order of the 
Jesuits.* 

" Pius, Bishop, Servant of the servants of God (ad 
perpetuam rei memoriam). 

" The care of all the Churches confided to our humi- 
lity by the Divine will, notwithstanding the lowness 
of our deserts and abilities, makes it our duty to 
employ all the aids in our power, and which are 
furnished to us by the mercy of Divine Providence, 
in order that we may be able, as far as the changes 
of times and places will allow, to relieve the spiritual 
wants of the Catholic world, without any distinction 
of people and nations. 

" Wishing to fulfil this duty of our apostolic ministry, 
as soon as Francis Karew (then living) and other 
secular priests, resident for many years in the vast 
empire of Russia, and who had been members of the 
Company of Jesus, suppressed by Clement XIV., of 
happy memory, had supplicated our permission to 
unite in a body, for the purpose of being able to apply 
themselves more easily, in conformity with their 
institutions, to the instruction of youth in religion and 
good morals, to devote themselves to preaching, to 
confession, and to the administration of the other 
sacraments, we felt it our duty the more willingly to 
comply with their prayer, inasmuch as the reigning 
emperor, Paul I., had recommended the said priests, 
in his gracious despatch, dated 11th August 1800, in 
which, after setting forth his special regard for them, 
he declared to us that it would be agreeable to him to 
see the Company of Jesus established in his empire 

* The translation here given is from the Protestant Advocate, vol. 
iii. p. 13, &c. 1 



RE-ESTABLISHMENT. 



443 



under our authority ; and we, on our side, considering 
attentively the great advantage which these vast 
regions might thence derive, considering how useful 
those ecclesiastics, whose morals and learning were 
equally tried, would be to the Catholic religion, 
thought fit to second the wish of so great and benefi- 
cent a prince. 

" In consequence, by our brief, dated 7th March 
1801, we granted to the said Francis Karew, and his 
colleagues, residing in Russia, or who should repair 
thither from other countries, power to form them- 
selves into a body or congregation of the Company of 
Jesus; they are at liberty to unite in one or more 
houses, to be pointed out by their superior, provided 
these houses are situated within the Russian empire. 
We named the said Francis Karew General of the 
said congregation ; we authorised them to resume and 
follow the rule of St Ignatius of Loyola, approved 
and confirmed by the Constitutions of Paul III., our 
predecessor, of happy memory, in order that the 
companions, in a religious union, might freely engage 
in the instruction of youth in religion and good 
letters, direct seminaries and colleges, and, with the 
consent of the ordinary, confess, preach the Word of 
God, and administer the sacraments. By the same 
brief, we received the congregation of the Company 
of J esus under our immediate protection and depend- 
ence, reserving to ourselves and our successors the 
prescription of everything that might appear to us 
proper to consolidate, to defend it, and to purge it 
from the abuses and corruptions that might be therein 
introduced; and for this purpose we expressly abro- 
gated such apostolical constitutions, statutes, privi- 
leges, and indulgences, granted in contradiction to 
these concessions, especially the apostolic letters of 
Clement XIV., our predecessor, which begun with the 
words Dominus ac Eedemptor Nostra, only in so far 
as they are contrary to our brief, beginning Catho- 



444 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



licce, and which was given only for the Russian 
empire, 

" A short time after we had ordained the restoration 
of the order of Jesuits in Russia, we thought it our 
duty to grant the same favour to the kingdom of 
Sicily, on the warm request of our dear son in Jesus 
Christ, King Ferdinand, who begged that the 
Company of Jesus might be re-established in his 
kingdom and states as it was in Russia, from a con- 
viction that, in these deplorable times, the Jesuits 
were instructors most capable of forming youth to 
Christian piety and the fear of God, which is the 
beginning of wisdom, and to instruct them in science 
and letters. The duty of our pastoral charge leading 
us to second the pious wishes of these illustrious 
monarchs, and having only in view the glory of God 
and the salvation of souls, we, by our brief, begin- 
ning Per alias, and dated the 30th July 1804, 
extended to the kingdom of the two Sicilies the same 
concessions we had made for the Russian empire. 

" The Catholic world demands with unanimous 
voice the re-establishment of the Company of Jesus. 
We daily receive to this effect the most pressing- 
petitions from our venerable brethren, the archbishops 
and bishops, and the most distinguished persons, 
especially since the abundant fruits which this 
Company has produced in the above countries have 
been generally known. The dispersion even of the 
stones of the sanctuary in these recent calamities 
(which it is better now to deplore than to repeat), the 
annihilation of the discipline of the regular orders 
(the glory and support of religion and the Catholic 
Church, to the restoration of which all our thoughts 
and cares are at present directed), require that we 
should accede to a wish so just and general. 

" We should deem ourselves guilty of a great crime 
towards God, if, amidst these dangers of the Christian 
republic, we neglected the aids which the special 



BE-ESTABLISHMENT. 



445 



providence of God has put at our disposal, and if 
placed in the baric of Peter, tossed and assailed by 
continual storms, we refused to employ the vigorous 
and experienced powers who volunteer their ser- 
vices, in order to break the waves of a sea which 
threaten every moment shipwreck and death. De- 
cided by motives so numerous and powerful, we have 
resolved to do now what we could have wished to 
have done at the commencement of our pontificate. 
After having by fervent prayers implored the Divine 
assistance, after having taken the advice and counsel 
of a great number of our venerable brothers, the 
cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, we have 
decreed, with full knowledge, in virtue of the pleni- 
tude of apostolic power, and with perpetual validity, 
that all the concessions and powers granted by us 
solely to the Russian empire and the kingdom of the 
Two Sicilies, shall henceforth extend to all our 
ecclesiastical states, and also to all other states. 
We therefore concede and grant to our well-beloved 
son, Tadder Barzozowski, at this time General of the 
Company of Jesus, and to the other members of that 
Company lawfully delegated by him, all suitable and 
necessary powers in order that the said states may 
freely and lawfully receive all those who shall wish to 
be admitted into the regular order of the Company of 
Jesus, who, under the authority of the General, ad 
interim, shall be admitted and distributed, according 
to opportunity, in one or more houses, one or more 
colleges, and one or more provinces, where they shall 
conform their mode of life to the rules prescribed by 
St Ignatius of Loyola, approved and confirmed by 
the Constitutions of Paul III. We declare, besides, 
and grant power, that they may freely and lawfully 
apply to the education of youth in the principles of 
the Catholic faith, to form them to good morals, and 
to direct colleges and seminaries ; we authorise them 
to hear confessions, to preach the Word of God, and 



446 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



to administer the sacraments in the places of their 
residence, with the consent and approbation of the 
ordinary. We take under our tutelage, under our 
immediate obedience, and that of the Holy See, all 
the colleges, houses, provinces, and members of this 
order, and all those who shall join it; always reserv- 
ing to ourselves and the Roman Pontiffs, our success- 
ors, to prescribe and direct all that we may deem it 
our duty to prescribe and direct, to consolidate the 
said Company more and more, to render it stronger, 
and to purge it of abuses, should they ever creep in, 
which God avert. It now remains for us to exhort, 
with all our heart, and in the name of the Lord, all 
superiors, provincials, rectors, companies, and pupils 
of this re-established Society, to shew themselves at 
all times, and in all places, faithful imitators of their 
father ; that they exactly observe the rule prescribed 
by their founder; that they obey with an always 
increasing zeal the useful advices and salutary 
counsels which he has left to his children. 

w In fine, we recommend strongly in the Lord, the 
Company and all its members to our dear sons in 
Jesus Christ, the illustrious and noble princes and 
lords temporal, as well as to our venerable brothers 
the archbishops and bishops, and to all those who 
are placed in authority ; we exhort, we conjure them, 
not only not to suffer that these religions be in any 
way molested, but to watch that they be treated with 
all due kindness and charity. 

" We ordain, that the present letters be inviolably 
observed according to their form and tenor, in all 
time coming ; that they enjoy their full and entire 
effect; that they shall never be submitted to the 
judgment or revision of any judge, with whatever 
power he may be clothed ; declaring null and of no 
effect any encroachment on the present regulations, 
either knowingly or from ignorance; and this not- 
withstanding any apostolical constitutions and ordi- 



EE-ESTABLISHMENT. 



447 



nances, especially the brief of Clement XIV. of happy- 
memory, beginning with the words Dominus ac Re- 
demptor Roster, issued under the seal of the fisher- 
man, on the 22d day of July 1773, which we ex- 
pressly abrogate as far as contrary to the present 
order. 

"It is also our will that the same credit be paid to 
copies, whether in manuscript or printed, of our 
present brief, as to the original itself, provided they 
have the signature of some notary public, and the 
seal of some ecclesiastical dignitary ; that no one be 
permitted to infringe, or by an audacious temerity to 
oppose, any part of this ordinance ; and that, should 
any one take upon him to attempt it, let him know 
that he will thereby incur the indignation of Almighty 
God^ and of the holy apostles Peter and Paul. 

" Given at Rome, at Sancta Maria Major, 

on the 7th of August, in the year of 

our Lord 1814, and the 15th of our 

Pontificate. 

,v " Cardinal Prodataire. 

t&ignea; u Cardinal Braschi." 



The moment the bull of 1814 had given to the 
Society a new existence, nearly two hundred fathers, 
who had survived the calamities of 1773, re-assembled 
at the Gesu, and in the novitiate of St Andrea in Rome. 
Along with the old remains of the Company , many young 
Jesuits, who during the suppression had been received 
into the order in their houses in Silesia, Russia, and 
Palermo, re-entered the abode of their past glory and 
splendour, and opened their hearts to new and bril- 
liant prospects. Neither were they deceived in their 
expectations. In those first moments of violent re- 
action in Italy, the priests and monks were considered 
as almost saints, and Pius VII. was actually worshipped 
as God. The overthrow of Napoleon's empire was in 
Italy considered as due to the hand of God, who had 



448 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



punished him for laying his impious hand on the 
anointed of the Lord — the Vicar of Jesus Christ. Napo- 
leon, who was considered in France as the restorer of 
religion, was in Italy regarded as the greatest heretic 
who had ever lived — worse than Luther, Calvin, 
Zuingle. As the ignorant and bigoted people of the 
peninsula, at such an epoch, made religion consist in 
monks, nans, and processions, so the man who had abo- 
lished these was in their eyes the greatest enemy of God 
and religion ; and those friars, though held in very 
little consideration as individuals, were, when re-in- 
stated in their convents, cheered and worshipped. 
Even those whose sentiments were anything but of a 
religious character, thinking that the clerical party 
would now re-acquire the supreme sway, and would 
exercise it in a more absolute and exclusive manner, 
feigned to be devoted to the reigning power, either to 
avoid persecution or to obtain favour as devout sup- 
porters of the Roman Catholic faith. Thank God, 
this is no longer the case. 

The Order of the Jesuits, above all, fixed the at- 
tention of every one, and admission into it was sought 
with passionate eagerness, as the surest way to for- 
tune and consideration. Many younger brothers of 
good families entered the novitiate of St Andrea, 
which had the rare honour to see as a postulant 
for admission into the brotherhood, a once crowned 
head. Charles Emanuel of Savoy, who had already 
renounced the crown of Sardinia in favour of his 
brother Vittorio, entered the novitiate, fulfilled with 
unfeigned humility all the duties of a novice, and 
died some three or four years after, asking, as a last 
favour, to be buried in his garb of a Jesuit. 

Another fortuitous circumstance soon came to re- 
lieve the Jesuits from great difficulties. In 1820, the 
death of General Barzozowski, whom Alexander would 
never permit to leave Russia, and without whom 
nothing definitive could be done, put an end to this 



RE-ESTABLISHMENT, 



449 



anomalous state of things. The new election restored 
the chief of the Company to the metropolis of Chris- 
tendom ; and from the Gesu, where Loyola and Bicci 
had sat, Fortis, the elected General, now watched over 
the interests and the prosperity of the Society, which 
he hoped to see again in all its former glory. 
In our peninsula their progress was rapid. 

■ Come di gramigna, 
Vivace terra,* 

so Italy was soon covered with the noxious weed. Most 
of their former establishments were given back to 
them, others they bought; and, in perfect concord 
with the Court of Rome, as each stood in need of the 
other, they set to work to reduce the unfortunate 
country to the lowest possible degree of ignorance 
and degradation, to extinguish every noble aspiration, 
to suppress every generous sentiment, and to force us 
into that mould in which idle, debauched, and corrupt 
monks are cast. But their united efforts, thank 
Heaven ! proved ineffectual. The genius of ancient 
Borne, though clad in sable, watched over us from 
the ruins of the Coliseum, and from the summit of 
the Capitol, and pointed out to us written on every 
stone of our cities, a page of glory, an inscription of 
noble and heroic deeds! Yes! in the very names 
of our monuments, even when they are not present 
to our eyes, there is something magical, some mys- 
terious power, which thrills all the fibres of the 
heart, and makes one long to restore the glories of 
the past. And in this, we believe, more than in any- 
thing else, is to be found the explanation of that his- 
torical fact, that while in the middle ages the Popes 
were almost supreme umpires of the different king- 
doms of Europe, they could never obtain a stable 
footing in Borne, but were often driven from it, often 
beseiged in their castles or made prisoners, while 
their court and government were generally held in 
* As lively turf with green herb. — Dante. 



450 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



the greatest contempt. So now, though the Jesuits 
were supported by all the petty Italian despots, and 
by their master the Emperor of Austria, and though 
they almost had at their disposal the thunderbolts of 
the Vatican and the dungeons of the Inquisition, 
they could only persuade old women, and feeble and 
bigoted men, but none of the thinking and active 
population of Italy. The revolution of 1848 proved 
once more how deeply rooted was the hatred of the 
Italians against the brotherhood of Loyola, the only 
religious order among such an immense number which 
was forcibly expelled from the whole peninsula. 

However, the Jesuits, the moment they were re- 
established, lost no time in invading other countries 
where they thought they could retrieve their fallen 
fortunes. Immediately after the restoration, they 
re-entered Spain, France, Belguim, Austria, Switzer- 
land, and many countries in the New World. We 
shall endeavour, in the little space left to us, to 
sketch the history of the fathers in those different 
countries. 

The Jesuits, to the number of about one hundred, 
mostly members of the Society who had been expelled 
in 1667, re-entered Spain, and were associated with 
Ferdinand VII. in all the acts of revenge which that 
cruel and stupidly ferocious prince exercised upon the 
unfortunate Spaniards. They increased so rapidly, 
that as early as 1820, they numbered already 397 
members.* But at that time the Castilians revolted 
against the cruelty of the despotic king. Successful 
in their revolution, they established the Constitution of 
1812 ; and one of the first acts of the Cortes was to 
enact a law which expelled the Jesuits from all the 
Spanish dominions. But it was not long before they 
re-entered in the rear of the French army, conducted 
by the Duke of Angouleme, to replace Ferdinand on 
the throne, and became the most efficient instru- 
* Cret. vol. vi. p. 323. 



RE-ESTABLISHMENT. 



451 



inents of his bigoted and cowardly policy. In 1825, 
a general military college was established at Segovia, 
and, strange- to say, the Jesuits were made the pre- 
ceptors of those future officers in all that was not 
strictly military. In 1827, another college for the 
nobility and children of courtiers and chamberlains 
was established, and also delivered to the Jesuits' di- 
rection. But their prosperity was put a stop to by 
the death of Ferdinand. The right of Isabella, the 
infant daughter of the late king, was contested by her 
uncle Don Carlos, and long and murderous civil war 
was the consequence of this contest. The Jesuits 
took the part of the Carlists secretly at first, and 
acting only as informers when they were able. In 
an emeute in 1834, the people of Madrid murdered 
some of them, and in 1835 they were legally abo- 
lished by a decree of the legislature, sanctioned by the 
sovereign. But they did not on that account quit 
Spain. They recovered their standing in those pro- 
vinces in which the armies of Don Carlos were predo- 
minant, and were chosen as tutors to the pretender's 
sons. They built a novitiate in Quipuzoa, and seemed 
to set at defiance the government of the country. 
After the convention of Vergara, Espartero caused 
them to be expelled from their new colleges, and 
ordered them to leave the Spanish territories ; but 
although, since this epoch, they have no legal existence 
in the land of Loyola and Xavier, according to the 
best information, in 1845, about 250 Jesuits were to 
be found there, apparently as single individuals, but 
in reality forming part of the order, and being 
attached either to the province of Belgium or to that 
of South America. 

Their history in Portugal may be more summarily 
narrated. In 1829, some French Jesuits, invited by 
the usurper Don Miguel, arrived in Portugal, and 
were honourably received, as they pretend, by the 
grand-daughter of Pombal, who offered to intrust to 



452 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



them four of her children to be educated.* The 
authorities also contrived to get up a sort of manifes- 
tation, given by the other monks on the Jesuits* 
entrance into Coimbra, where they stayed two or three 
years. But hardly was Don Pedro master of 
Portugal, than, by a decree in 1834, he expelled 
the fathers from all the dominions of his daughter 
Dona Maria. We are not aware that there are many 
Jesuits now in Portugal. 

In Germany, the fathers were far from regaining 
the position they had formerly held. Austria itself 
refused to re-admit them. Metternich, brought up in 
the school of Joseph II. and Kaunitz, was not disposed 
to let the bad seed take root again in the German 
soil. However, when, in 1820, the Jesuits, expelled 
from Russia, passed through Vienna, they found 
means to obtain permission to settle in Galicia, where 
they soon opened schools and colleges, the principal of 
which were in Tournow and Lemberg, and where they 
met with such success, that the latter college, in 1823, 
counted 400 pupils. The number of Jesuits in the 
province went on increasing, and their influence, 
especially over the rural population, who are almost all 
Papists, is now all-powerful and irresistible. Now, our 
readers, who remember the atrocious and inhuman 
acts which desolated the unfortunate country in 1846, 
may form an estimate of the good which their system 
of education has produced. 

They also attempted to establish themselves in 
Styria, though with little success. But in 1838, they 
were at last permitted to re-open their former college 
at Innspruck, where they are now in the most 
prosperous and flourishing state. In no other part of 
the German Confederation have they a legal existence; 
and the late King of Prussia very wisely forbade any 
of his subjects to pass into foreign countries to be 
educated by the Jesuits. 

* Cret. vol. vi. p. 338. i 



j 



RE-ESTABLISHMENT. 



453 



In Holland, the Jesuits acted in very nearly the 
same way as they did in Russia. It seems as if, at 
the time of the Suppression, the Protestant countries, 
forgetful of all prudence, merely to shew their opposi- 
tion to the Papal Court, vied with each other in cheer- 
ing and patronising those monks whom Rome was 
persecuting, Even in England, Jesuits were never so 
well treated, nor perhaps so prosperous, as during their 
legal suppression. Some of the Jesuits recovered a 
standing in Holland, and lived there unmolested and 
protected, till the French armies drove them away, or 
obliged them to disguise themselves under another 
garb ; but they re-appeared in 1814, and with their 
wonted activity they began to erect houses and 
novitiates. King William of N assau tolerated them ; 
but it would appear that they were not contented 
with being tolerated — they aspired to higher destinies. 
Spreading dissatisfaction among the Roman Catholic 
population, they encouraged them not to accept of, or 
submit quietly to, a constitution so unfavourable to 
their interests, and were preparing materials for a 
revolution. De Broglio, the Archbishop of Ghent, 
entirely devoted to the order, wrote in the same sense 
to all his subordinates. Aware of their intrigues and 
machinations, the government thought it necessary, 
by a decree of 1816, to banish them. The audacious 
monks, instead of obeying, repaired to the arch- 
bishop's palace, as if to brave the laws. But the 
government maintained its rights. A warrant was 
issued against De Broglio, who, however, took to flight, 
and accompanied into France the Rector of the 
College of the Jesuits. The fathers then left the 
country, but not all of them. " Some sons of Lovola, 
nevertheless, remained on the spot directed by Father 
Demeistre, and, enrolled under the standard of the 
Church, they fought as volunteers."* In other words, 
under different disguises, they kept up their intrigues, 

* Cret. vol. vi. p. 105. 
2 G 



454 



HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. 



and breathed the spirit of revolution into the Popish 
population of Belgium. At the first opportunity, this 
spirit broke out. " The revolution of 1830 was made 
in the name of the Catholics and of the Jesuits."* 
Very well ! we like this bold and frank language ; 
and the J esuits have our felicitation for having helped 
an oppressed people to shake off a yoke which brutal 
force had imposed upon them. But then let them 
never come again and assert they are a religious 
order, entirely occupied in spiritual concerns, and 
quite indifferent to political matters. 

Since the revolution of 1830, the influence of the 
Jesuits has greatly increased in Belgium, and this 
country is now one of the most flourishing provinces 
of the order, numbering more than 400 members. 
The extreme prudence and sagacity of Leopold has 
prevented them from doing much mischief; but they 
have done their best to acquire a supreme sway in 
that country, and to extinguish in it every civil 
and religious liberty. At the very moment we are 
writing these pages, they are striving hard to prostrate 
Belgium at the feet of their worthy protector, Louis 
Napoleon. 

In France, the fathers have led a much more agi- 
tated and unsettled existence since their expulsion in 
1765. Portugal and Spain, in expelling them, had 
resorted to such rigorous and universal measures, that 
few or no Jesuits were to be found in the two countries 
for some time after their banishment. But it was not 
so in France. No stringent measures had been taken 
to see the decree of expulsion executed. The Jesuits, 
it is true, had disappeared from their colleges and 
houses, and dropped the long mantle and large-brimmed 
hat ; but a great part of them remained in the French 
territory, changing residences, and many of them me- 
tamorphosing themselves into the Fathers of the Faith, 
or the Brethren of the Doctrine Chretienne. Then, 

* Cret. vol. vi. p. 110. 



RE-ESTABLISHMENT. 



455 



when the opportunity presented itself, they re-appeared 
everywhere in their own garb, and nobody knew 
whence they came, or where they had been. We find 
few traces of them during the first years of the French 
Revolution of 1789 ; but the moment Napoleon, for 
his own political ends, re-established the ancient form 
of religion, and restored to the clergy some liberty to 
fulfil their duties, the Jesuits, under the name of the 
Fathers of the Faith, re-appeared, and set themselves 
at once to work, endeavouring, by new contrivances, to 
re-acquire at least some of their lost influence and 
power. In 1800, the sister of Father Barat, under 
the direction of her brother, founded the Sisterhood of 
the Sacred Heart; while Father Baruffe established 
the Congregation of the Sacred Family; the first to 
preside over the education of the daughters of the 
aristocracy, the latter to instruct governesses and 
servants, whom they distributed especially amongst 
families whose secrets they were interested in know- 
ing. Father Despuits was still more audacious, and 
established the Congregation of the Holy Virgin, in 
which he enrolled all sorts of persons, but particularly 
those of the upper class of society, and military men as 
often as he could. The two first institutions are at the 
present moment very flourishing in France, and almost 
all the French nobility send their daughters to b^ 
educated at the famous convent of Les Oiseaux, in 
Paris. The Congregation of the Virgin decayed after 
the revolution of 1830. 

However, Napoleon, alarmed at the progress and 
the intrigues of the Fathers of the Faith, by a decree 
of Messidor, anno XII. (1804), abolished the brother- 
hood, and, by another imperial decree of 1810, the 
Congregation of the Virgin, and for some little time 
the Jesuits were obliged to be more prudent and less 
meddling. 

But, in 1814, those monks, who had for a mo- 
ment disappeared from the scene, came forth again 



456 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



more alive and more intriguing than ever. They 
dropped the borrowed name of Fathers of the Faith, 
and reassumed that of Jesuits. The congregations 
received a new impulse, and that of the Virgin, above 
all, was eminently active in inducing military men to 
join it. Rendered wise by past experience, they per- 
ceived that they should never succeed in their designs 
without the concurrence, or at least the neutrality, of 
the secular clergy. To disarm, then, its animosity, 
which had been so ardent in former times, they 
spontaneously renounced their privileges, and shewed 
the utmost deference to the secular priests of all ranks. 
Father Simpson, the Provincial in 1819, writing to 
his subordinate, says to him : " Let us remember that 
we are only the auxiliaries of the secular priests, that 
we, in our quality of monks, must look upon them 
as our superiors, and that St Ignatius has given to our 
Society, as its distinctive title, The Little Society of 
Jesus." * We wonder whether Lachaise or Letellier 
would have written so. Then, supported by a great 
part of the bishops, and encouraged by the govern- 
ment, part of the Jesuits went over to France as mis- 
sionaries, to try what they could do to restore the 
reign of superstition and bigotry, and to bring back 
France to the good old times of civil and religious 
bondage ; part again undertook to monopolise the edu- 
cation of youth ; and in both undertakings they were, 
with certain classes, prodigiously successful. 

But the sacrifices France had made to obtain liberty 
vrere of too fresh date that it should quietly submit 
to a priestly domination, which had become now too 
visible and threatening. Public opinion declared 
itself so strongly and so irresistibly against all priests 
in general, and against the Jesuits in particular, that 
the bigoted Charles X. himself was forced, in 1828, to 
issue an ordinance which deprived the fathers of the 
faculty of instructing youth, and providing, moreover, 

* Cret, vol. vi. p. 110. 



RE-ESTABLISHMENT. 



that no person whatever should be admitted to teach 
without taking an oath that he did not belong to any- 
religious community not approved by law. The 
Jesuits, however, secretly encouraged by the court, 
and supported by the aristocracy, eluded these ordi- 
nances by a thousand different stratagems; and, al- 
though not so openly, they never rested from their 
intrigues, and from taking an active part in education. 

The Revolution of 1830, due in a great measure 
to the aversion of the French nation to the domi- 
nation of the priests and Jesuits, again dispersed 
them for a while. They left the scene; nobody 
knew when they disappeared, whither they went, 
and when they returned, till, towards 1836, they 
came to be spoken of and pointed out as becoming 
numerous, powerful, and dangerous ; they, neverthe- 
less, went quietly and prudently on, continually pro- 
gressing, till 1845, when an affair of money now, 
as in 1761, again brought them into momentary 
trouble. A certain Affnaer — an arch- Jesuit, it would 
seem, since he cheated his dupes by feigning to be a 
converted sinner — became their confidential agent, and 
robbed them of the immense sum of £10,000, of which 
embezzlement they remained ignorant till he took to 
flight — (so poor they are !) The fathers had the im- 
prudence to apply to the tribunals. The swindler was 
indeed condemned, but at the same time was brought 
to light the existence of the Jesuits, not as private 
citizens, but as a religious community, already possess- 
ing immense wealth and establishments of all kinds, 
till then almost ignored, or at least overlooked — all this 
being contrary to the existing laws. Thiers, courting 
popularity, called upon the government to advert to 
this subject, and the parliament unanimously declared 
that it felt confident that the ministry would see the 
laws of the land strictly executed. To avoid an open 
rupture with Rome, Rossi was sent thither, to obtain 
from the Rope and the General of the order a 



458 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



voluntary"" acquiescence in the wishes of the nation. 
Roothaan, the then chief of the Society, more prudent 
than Ricci, granted the request, and ordered his bre- 
thren to quit their establishments. However, not 
to renounce all the advantages they were deriving in 
educating the rising generation of Frenchmen, the 
fathers established a college on the very limits of 
the French territory, at Brugellette, and the French 
nobility sent their children either there or to Fribourg, 
where a part of the French fathers had emigrated. 
Once more the Jesuits were supposed to have left 
France. Little was seen of them in the last two 
years of Louis Philippe's reign, and during the event- 
ful year of 1848 ; but in '49 they reappeared, hesitat- 
ingly at first, but more boldly afterwards ; and now, 
in 1852, they possess such an influence, that even the 
unscrupulous military usurper is obliged to court their 
friendship. In 1845, the number of the Jesuits in 
France amounted to 870. 

In Switzerland, the bloody and inhuman acts by 
which the Jesuits sought to enter Lucerne are of too 
recent and terrible recollection to require to be related 
by us at length. The expedition of the Corps Franc, 
their defeats, 112 dead, 300 wounded, 1500 prisoners, 
the Sonderbund, and all the fraternal blood spilt in 
Switzerland in 1844, 45, and 46, must be laid to the 
charge of the Jesuits, who insisted on entering Lucerne 
against the will of half the population. Had they been 
true Christians, and religious men, they would have 
renounced their projects of installing themselves by 
force where they knew that the attempt would cost 
the lives of so many of their Christian brethren, and 
an Iliad of miseries to the unfortunate country. 

Although we find few indications of the presence of 
the Jesuits in England, after the accession of the 
house of Hanover to the throne, till the last few years 
of the past century, Cretineau, who may be relied upon 
as having written his apology of the Society upon the 



RE-ESTABLISHMENT. 



459 



register of the order, and under the dictation of the 
fathers, informs us that, " from the day on which 
liberty was no more a deception, the Jesuits perceived 
that they had no more to fear the extraordinary 

rigours of past times They then began to live 

in fixed abodes, at first in secret, then a little more 
openly, and in community. Such were at first the 
missions of Livei»pool, Bristol, Preston, Norwich, and 
many other towns. A little chapel was annexed to 
the house (which means, that an altar had been con- 
structed in a room) ; and without exciting the least 
suspicion, the faithful could repair thither and pray."* 
This, according to the French historian, was the way 
in which they lived till 1795, when the Jesuits of 
Liege, flying from the victorious republican armies of 
France, sought a refuge in Great Britain which 
granted them that hospitality she never refuses to 
the unfortunate. Then Mr Weld, a wealthy Roman 
Catholic, with a liberality for which, whatever grati- 
tude the Jesuits may owe to his memory, England 
certainly owes him none, presented them with an old 
manor and some property in Stoneyhurst, near 
Preston, in Lancashire. Thither the worthy fathers 
instantly repaired, and at first conducted themselves 
with all humility, avowing it to be their intention to 
earn a subsistence solely by tuition. As we have 
said, the Protestants of that epoch seem to have 
taken a sort of pleasure in protecting these rebellious 
monks, and the more so, perhaps, because they persist- 
ed in being monks against the will of Rome. Hence 
the Jesuits quietly settled themselves in Stoneyhurst, 
nemine contradicente. By degrees, finding all sorts 
of encouragement, they changed the manor into a 
college, where, besides the boarders and pupils who 
paid them regular fees, they gave gratuitous instruc- 
tions to every one who would attend their classes. 
Improvements to a great extent were made upon 

* Vol. vi. p. 81. 



460 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



the house, by which it was rendered capable of re- 
ceiving at first 150, and subsequently, by additional 
buildings, 300 pupils. Weld gave up to them a large 
tract of land, and one of his sons entered the order. 
"All the ancient Jesuits flocked to Stoneyhurst. 
Among the first were Fathers Stanley, O'Brien, 
Lawson, Church, Jenkins, Plowden, Howard, and 
some others."* All together consecrated their cares 
" to make priests, and to form young men equally 
devoted and learned, who should bring into their 
families the courage and the faith of which they gave 
and received the example in the college."! In a little 
while the college of Stoneyhurst was deemed insuffi- 
cient for the number of pupils who repaired thither 
from every part ; so that, within a quarter of a mile, 
at Greenhurst, was established a seminary for board- 
ing and educating boys preparatory to their entering 
Stoneyhurst. The most striking characteristic of 
Jesuit education, as we have already frequently 
remarked, was, and still is, that almost all the 
persons educated in their colleges consider themselves 
in a certain way attached to the order, and to the end 
of their lives work to their utmost for its aggrandise- 
ment. And this art of binding to their Society all 
their disciples, makes the Jesuits powerful and danger- 
ous, especially in those countries where they are 
adverse to the government or to a class of citizens. 
We insist upon this consideration. 

At Stoneyhurst, the ambition of the fathers rose 
with their prosperity, and inspired their restless 
activity with bolder and more extensive plans. The 
exertions of these same young men who were 
educated by them, and some of whom had become 
priests, spread the seed of Jesuitism in all parts of 
England, and, above all, in the surrounding neigh- 
bourhood of Stoneyhurst, where their large properties 
and considerable annual expenditure gave the fathers 

* Cret. vol. vi. p. 84. f Ibid. p. 83. 



EE-ESTABLISHMENT. 



461 



an additional influence, so that soon Roman Catholic 
chapels were to be seen over all the country round; 
and a modern author* affirms, that while, before the 
establishment of the Jesuits, there were only five 
Papists near Stoneyhurst, they were now numbered 
by thousands. 

From England, part of the successful colony of 
Ignatius passed over into Ireland in the beginning of 
the present century, and at once fixed their regards 
upon the most important position for acquiring an 
extensive influence. Father Kenney, one of the three 
first Jesuits who migrated thither, found means to 
be appointed vice-president of Maynooth College, of 
which he became the leading and influential member, 
and in which have ever since been taught the 
Jesuitical doctrines both in the matter of theology 
and of discipline ; so that it is a notorious fact, that of 
all the Roman Catholic clergy, the English are those 
who profess the most absolute and unrestricted prin- 
ciples of ultramontanism. As to Father Kenney, who 
was indefatigable in his vocation, and had already 
acquired an immense authority, some scruples now 
arose in the morbid consciences of strict Papists, 
whether he really was a legitimate Jesuit, since he 
had only taken his vows at Stoneyhurst while the 
Society had no legal existence. Sensible of the 
justness of these observations, Kenney hastened to 
Palermo, where the Society was in some sort re- 
established. He was there received and recognised 
as a genuine son of Loyola, and returned to Ireland 
to resume his office. But, as Maynooth College was 
established only for the education of priests, Kenney 
thought of creating another college for laymen. Clon- 
gowes was chosen for the purpose. Kenney was 
appointed president of it, and his exertions were so 
successful in attracting pupils thither, that, from 1814, 
the epoch of its opening, to 1819, it already numbered 

* Overbury. 



462 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



250 pupils ; while, by the liberality of Mary O'Brien, 
a Popish devotee, another college was erected in the 
district of King's County.* 

The moment the bull of 1814 relieved them from 
the interdict under which they laboured, the number 
of Jesuits increased so very rapidly, that, accord- 
ing to a return printed by order of parliament in 
1830, Ireland, at that epoch, possessed 58 fathers, 
and 117 were to be found in England. To what 
extent their number has increased up to the pre- 
sent moment is rather difficult to ascertain. The 
clause in the Emancipation Bill, which forbids any 
man to make vows or to receive vows in England, or 
to come into it after having made them elsewhere, 
obliges the Jesuits to observe some moderation and 
secrecy. Not, indeed, that they pay any attention, or 
submit to the law, because, as Cretineau expressly 
says, " the Jesuits felt that such a law (the schedule on 
the religious communities in the Emancipation Act) 
was enacted against them ; but they made little 
account of it" — lis en tinrent peu de compte.\ 
But they use some prudence, to avoid trouble, if 
possible, and because it is their practice not to oppose 
boldly any measure, but to find a certain pleasure in 
eluding the law, and thus shew themselves more 
cunning than their neighbours. Nevertheless, whoever 
should inspect the general register kept in the Gesu 
in Rome, might get at the exact number of the four 
avowed classes of the Jesuits — novices, scholastics, 
coadjutors, and professed ; but who could tell the 
number of persons belonging to the fifth secret class, 
who, by the confession of Father Pellico, constitute 
the strength and the power of the Society, and who, 
we may add, render it also very dangerous ? Who can 
count those innumerable agents who, partly intention- 
ally, partly in ignorance, are actively employed in fur- 
thering the success of the well-contrived and deeply- 
* Cretineau, vol. vi. ]\ 94. f Vol. vi. p. 89. 



RE-ESTABLISHMENT. 



463 



laid plans of the fathers — those secret conspirators 
against the civil and religious rights of mankind? 
Nobody can; and in this, we repeat, lies the danger. 
A Jesuit, when known, is as little dangerous as a 
robber who should give you intimation of his intention 
to steal your property. Should they present them- 
selves boldly and frankly, and say : " Here we are 
— we, the Jesuits, the most determined adversaries of 
the Protestant faith, the most strenuous supporters of 
the Court of Rome. Renounce your religion, burn 
your Bible, tear your Thirty-nine Articles, and em- 
brace the doctrine of Rome, which is the only true one ; 
you may believe it on our word." Should they speak 
so, they would effect no mischief at all. But the 
manner in which the Popish missionaries attempt to 
proselytise is a very different one, and shews that 
their religion is not in itself forcible, and that it does 
not possess such irresistible evidence of truth, that 
the simple and unvarnished exposition of its principles 
is sufficient to persuade one to embrace it. From the 
tiny images distributed by monks to little boys, to the 
gorgeous pageant, to the theatrical representation of 
the Vatican, all is intended to be the means of 
proselytising heretics, or of retaining believers in the 
communion of their Church. Then comes the con- 
fessional for those who wish to sin in all surety of 
conscience; then, again, masses and indulgences for 
those whose sins could not be cleansed by the absolu- 
tion,, but required the excruciating fires of Purgatory. 
Formerly, in the good old times of Popery, they re- 
sorted to still more persuasive arguments; witness 
the unfortunate Albigenses, Huguenots, Indians, and 
many others, who were so blind as not to see in Popery 
a revelation of Him who is at once the Father of 
Mercies and the Father of Lights. Nor does the 
agent of Rome, and, above all, the Jesuit, expound at 
once the whole system of his religion, such as it is ; 
but, with diabolical dexterity, he first insinuates him- 



464 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



self into the confidence of the man he has marked for 
a proselyte, captivates his benevolence by all sorts of 
arts, and then, step by step, he leads him as a convert 
into the fold of the modern Babylon. The same 
method is resorted to by those individuals who aim at 
wholesale conversions. They bring one to apostasy 
in the name, so to speak, of one's own religion. See, 
for example, the Puseyites; observe their progressive 
march from their first tracts, in which loads of abuse 
were heaped upon Popery, to the recent attempt to 
introduce auricular confession, and you will discover the 
same proceeding as that by which the Roman agent 
— the Jesuit — endeavours to convert — we should say 
seduce — a single individual. And who would take his 
oath that Dr Pusey does not belong to that fifth secret 
class of the Order of Jesus ? or that my lord Bishop 
of Exeter is not one of its members ? We could not 
affirm the fact, of course, but no more would we deny 
it. What we know, and what ought to be well con- 
sidered and borne in mind by all English Protestants, 
is, that the Jesuits are loud in their praises of the 
Puseyites, and that they frankly confess that this 
Anglican sect will be the means of bringing back 
England to the Roman communion. May God avert 
the ill-omened prediction! Let our readers well 
ponder upon the following extract from Cretineau, 
who, after having traced the history of the Puseyites 
from its origin, and exalted to the skies their princi- 
pal leader, says : — " The Puseyites, carried away 
against their wills, by the force of evidence, towards 
the Roman faith, pretended, it is true, that they 
would never go over to Rome. Nevertheless they, 
in fact, embraced one part of her dogmas and even her 
practices. A certain number of their disciples went 
frankly back to Catholicism. From April 1841, the 
publication of tracts had been suspended, it is true, but 
the party was at no loss for means for propagating its 
doctrines. It reigned in many seminaries and univer- 



RE-ESTABLISHMENT. 



465 



sities ; it spread in America, and even in India. The 
British Critic went on with its quarterly labours ; and 
renouncing by degrees its attacks against Rome, it ex- 
ercised its learned hostilities against the Reformation of 

the sixteenth century This school (Puseyism), 

in its pacific progress, shakes Anglicism from its base. 
It exercises an immense influence for the extent of 
its reports and its literature, and makes numberless 
proselytes. Many Puseyites, carried away by the 
truth, were not long in renouncing their theories. 
They sought a logical unity : the Church of Rome 
offered it to them, and they accepted of it ! "* We add 
no comment. 

To return to our history, we say that the influence 
of the Jesuits in the three kingdoms has increased 
since 1814, and its bad effects may be daily traced. 
We would almost be bold to assert that every obstacle 
which has come in the way to impede the progressive 
march of a free and powerful nation, is, to a certain 
extent, due to the hidden hand of a Jesuit. It must 
be borne in mind that Rome, of all things, desiderates 
the ruin of heretic England, and endeavours, to the 
utmost of her power, to create troubles and difficulties 
to that free country ; and if this be admitted, we shall 
remind our readers that all the arduous missions, all 
the delicate and secret undertakings for that purpose, 
since the times of Salmeron and Brouet, were always 
intrusted to the fathers. The secular priest, espe- 
cially in countries distant from Rome, looks upon the 
Jesuit as his superior in knowledge of the affairs of 
religion, as better informed of the intentions of Rome ; 
and is always disposed to shew all deference to his 
advice, and not seldom to execute his orders. "Al- 
ready, from 1829," according to Cretineau, " the 
Jesuits were the right arm of the bishops, the living 
models proposed by the prelates to the clergy." f 
And this renders the Jesuits more dangerous than 
* Vol. vi. pp. 91, 92, in a note. f "Vol. vi. p. 97. 



466 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



any other religious community. Indeed, I would 
rather see all the various species of those parasite 
animals called monks transplanted into the English 
soil, than let one J esuit live in it a single day ; and it 
is not without good reason that we speak so in this 
Protestant country. The order of the Jesuits was 
purposely instituted to combat, to extinguish Protest- 
antism ; and we have shewn whether the fathers were 
scrupulous about the means they employed to effect 
their object. The extirpation of heresy is their prin- 
cipal occupation, the work which renders them meri- 
torious in the eyes of Rome. Deprive the Jesuits of 
the vocation of annoying, persecuting, or converting 
heretics, and they become the most insignificant of all 
corporations, having no end whatever. Every monas- 
tic order is distinguished by a peculiar character. 
Plots and machinations against Protestants, and 
against all civil and religious freedom, are the charac- 
teristics of the Jesuits. A Benedictine monk will sit 
calmly in his very comfortable room, sip his chocolate, 
take a hand at whist, and not even dream of convert- 
ing any one. A Franciscan, of any denomination, will 
sit jocosely before a succulent dinner, which he has 
provided by going from door to door, distributing, in 
return for provisions, snuff and images, without uttering 
a word about his or your religion, and only relating 
some pleasing anecdotes of the holy founder of his 
order, St Francis. A Dominican will assuredly report 
your conduct to Rome, and will try to convert your 

daughter to his principles, but will care very little 

about the conversion. The Auto-da-fe, in which he 
formerly delighted, was regarded by him as a means 
not so much of converting heretics, as of procuring for 
himself a barbarous pastime. He was forbidden to 
assist at bull-fighting ! The Jesuit, on the contrary, 
has, as we have said, no other occupation or desire 
than to make converts ; and this we need not take the 
trouble to prove, since they themselves confess it. 



RE-ESTABLISHMENT. 



467 



They glory in it, and it forms their title to the grati- 
tude of the Holy See, and of all bigoted Papists. We 
will not say that other Roman Catholic priests will not 
endeavour to make converts. Nay, they are obliged 
by their calling to labour hard at it. In their orisons, 
in their anthems, in all the solemn ceremonies of the 
Church of Rome, prayers are addressed to the Al- 
mighty, not so much for the conversion, as for the ex- 
tirpation of heretics ; and every bishop takes an oath 
to do his utmost for this purpose ; so that a Roman 
Catholic priest must either neglect the principal duty 
of his ministry, or become the bitterest enemy of all 
Protestant institutions, if not of every Protestant. 
Yet they are not as the Jesuits, prepared to resort to 
the most criminal arts to bring about conversion. 

The conduct of the Jesuits in Holland, Prussia, 
Russia, clearly proves that no benefits can ever make 
any impression on that fraternity, or prevent them 
from conspiring your ruin ; and if Protestant England 
do not soon awake to a &ense of her danger, we fear she 
will repent, too late, of having fostered in her breast 
those poisonous vipers. Behold what is going on! 
See whether Romanism has ever been so menacing ! 
See the arrogance of the Court of Rome ! Behold the 
almost uninterrupted state of rebellion in which the 
priests keep the fanatic Papists of Ireland, and be sure 
that such would not be the case if you had not Jesuits 
among them. All our life long we have fought for 
equality of rights, for civil and religious liberty, and 
we would not preach intolerance now. We should like 
to see no difference whatever in respect of civil rights 
and privileges between Roman Catholic laymen and 
Protestants ; but, most assuredly, we would execute to 
the letter the clause against the religious fraternities, 
and think long before we should grant money to bring- 
up a set of priests, who, from the very nature of their 
calling, are strictly bound to sue for your destruction. 

I beg to be excused for having indulged in these 



468 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



remarks. They are not vain declamations ; I trust to 
be believed. I have been born and brought up 
among monks and Jesuits; and it is because I tho- 
roughly know them, that, grateful for the hospitality 
afforded me, I warn England to beware of all monks, 
but especially of Jesuits. They are inauspicious birds, 
which cannot but infect with their venomous breath the 
pure and free air of Great Britain. 

We shall now conclude our history with a chapter 
on the present condition of the Company in Europe. 



THE JESUITS IN AND AFTER 1848. 



'469 




CHAPTER XX. 

1848-1852. 
THE JESUITS IN AND AFTER 1848. 

Before the Suppression, the Jesuits, with alternate 
vicissitudes, possessed less or more influence in all 
Roman Catholic countries, in some of which, at 
different epochs, they were all-powerful and domineer* 
iiig. But since their re-establishment, their real 
effective power, it may be said, is confined to the 
Italian peninsula. It was my unfortunate country 
that, from the beginning of their restoration, more 
than any other part of Europe, experienced the 
pernicious effects of their revival. As from the first 
they had stood up as the natural enemy of the liberal 
party, the sovereigns of the peninsula, who wished ta 
reign despotically, without granting any concession 
required by the times, countenanced and protected 
the Jesuits in the most decided manner. Charles 
Felix had delivered up Piedmont to them, and they 
had taken possession of it, and governed it, as if they 
were its absolute masters. Even Charles Albert was 
unable or unwilling to counteract their influence. In 
Modena and Parma they possessed an equal authority ;. 
while in Naples their dominion was still more tyran- 
nical, inasmuch as it rested not only on the support 
of the court, but also on the superstition and fanati- 
cism of the populace, the most blindly bigoted of all 
Italy. But the supreme seat of their power, as may 
2 h 



470 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



be easily conceived, was Rome — Rome, now in per- 
fect friendship with the fathers. Odescalchi, a Jesuit, 
was Cardinal Vicar of Rome, the highest ecclesiastical 
authority in the world after the Pope. The whole of 
the public administration was filled with persons 
either belonging to the Society, or protected by them. 
Public education was entirely in their own hands, or 
of those protected by them. The nomination of every 
teacher or professor was submitted to the approval of 
the bishop. Recommendation from the fathers was 
listened to as if it were the orders of a superior ; and 
few, if any, of the established authorities dared to 
oppose them in any of their undertakings. Poor 
Italy was in a lamentable condition. The different 
governments of Italy, encouraged by the fathers in 
their tyrannical and intolerant policy, had spread such 
dissatisfaction among the higher classes of society,* 
that every other year attempts were made at a 
revolution, some of which were in part successful, as 
those of 1821 and 1831. They were, however, 
always crushed by the overwhelming forces of Austria, 
and only served to increase the number of victims, and 
the cruelties of the goverments, inflexible in their 
despotic policy. Yet the population, driven to despair, 
and preferring death to ignominy, were ready to shed 
their blood to mend the wretched condition of the 
country. In the latter part of Gregory XVI. 's reign, 
matters were brought to such a state, that every 
moment was expected a new general outbreak through- 
out all Italy ; the consequences of which, from the 
exasperated state of the popular mind, would have 
been incalculable. In these circumstances, Gregory 
XVI. died, and Giovanni Mastai was, after only two 
days' conclave, raised to the pontifical chair. It was 
thought that the meekness of his character, the purity 

* It is to be remembered that all the revolutions which have taken, 
place in Italy since 1814 were prepared and executed by the upper 
classes of the nation. 



SI 

THE JESUITS IN AND AFTER 1848. 471 

| of his life, his decided aversion to every act of tyran- 
ts ny, might in part calm the exasperated state of the 
population of the Roman states, the most oppressed of 
I all the states of Italy, as well as the readiest for a 
revolution; and the beginning of Pius IX.'s reign 
promised to the unfortunate peninsula a new era. 
I Fugitive and deceitful hope ! Alas ! the new era is now 
J such as to make the future generation curse the day 
I that Mastai ascended the throne ! 

However, a month after his elevation, Pius IX. 
i granted an amnesty, reformed some gross abuses, dis- 
! carded the most obnoxious agents of the past tyrannical 
government, and promised to reign according to just 
and paternal laws. We extolled his clemency to the 
sky, and saw in him the palladium of freedom; we 
celebrated his virtues in a thousand different ways. 
The world was soon filled with the eulogiums of Pius, 
and for a brief period Europe prostrated herself at 
the feet of the idol raised up by our gratitude. 

But while we were loud in the praises of Pius IX., 
hoping that he would prove a reformer and a bene- 
factor to Italy, the Jesuits, united with the old des- 
potic party, which recognised Austria for its chief, 
contrived, by all sorts of means, to oppose his acts of 
benevolence, slandered his person, abused his minis- 
ters, and openly conspired against him. The Romans 
feared that he would meet with the fate of Ganganelli ; 
and those fears were not only expressed in all writ- 
ings and in all pieces of poetry, but when the Pope 
passed through the streets of Rome, the Trasteverini 
shouted out, " Holy Father, beware of the Jesuits t " 
A very significant fact, which shews the opinion in 
which the fathers are held where they are best known. 

The good understanding, however, which existed 
for some eighteen months between the liberal party 
and the Pope, began to be shaken when the Romans, 
tired of benisons and insignificant concessions, asked 
for liberal organic laws, and wished, above all, t<r 



472 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



snatch from the hand of the priests and monks their 
ill-gotten and ill-used authority, extending to all 
branches of the administration, even to those most in- 
consistent with their calling. It is well known that no 
office of any importance in the Roman states was 
filled by a layman — even the general of the army 
was a Monsignore. We wished for a radical reform 
on this point. Unfortunately, at this time, Grazioli 
— a high-minded and tolerant priest, the Pope's con- 
fessor — died, and Pius fell into the hands of a confessor 
devoted to the Jesuits, and from that moment his 
conduct became hypocritical and deceitful, and after- 
wards cruel and inhuman. To the Jesuits is certainly 
to be attributed the change in the politics of the 
Pope. From the beginning, Pius had been displeased 
when he heard abuse poured upon the Company; 
but his desire of popularity and applause had modified 
the propensities of the priest, nay, of the narrow- 
minded, bigoted chief of the priests. But now, divest- 
ing himself of the borrowed character of a tolerant 
and liberal man, Pius returned to the former error of 
all Popes, and would not listen to a word about 
reform touching the priesthood. It was this inflexible 
opposition to our just and reasonable desires, and not 
our petulance, which brought things to extremities, 
and the Jesuits were even the apparent cause of the 
rupture. 

Although the Romans were resolved to be no 
longer the vassals of the priesthood, and were deter- 
mined not to leave a vestige of authority in civil 
matters to any churchman except the Pope, never- 
theless, no injury, no abuse, was offered to any secular 
priest or monk, with the exception of the Jesuits. 
But against them there was raised a great commotion. 
Publications of all sorts were daily poured into the 
streets of Rome against the fathers ; -and along with 
the shout for Italy, was mingled the cry, "Down with 
the Jesuits!" 



THE JESUITS IN AJSD AFTER 1848. 473 



Gioberti's book, II Gesuita Moderno, was in every- 
body's hands, and when that courageous priest came 
to Kome, the people shouted his name as that of a 
benefactor; a guard of honour was stationed at his 
hotel, and almost royal honours were rendered to him 
for having so unreservedly laid bare the iniquities of 
the fathers.* All this irritated the Pope in the 
highest degree. From the balcony of the Quirinal he 
reproached the Romans with slandering venerable 
ecclesiastics; and when the news arrived that the 
Neapolitans had expelled the Jesuits from their city, 
he issued a proclamation, in which he threatened us, 
if we were tempted to imitate them, with his anger, 
and with the curse of God's indignation, who ivoidd 
launch His holy vengeance against the assailants of 
His anointed. "\ 

But the Papal protection was no longer sufficient 
to shelter the Jesuits from public hatred. Pius IX. 
lost a great part of his popularity, but could not save 
them. They were expelled from the whole of the 
peninsula — not as a general revolutionary measure, 
since all other religious communities lived unmolested, 
but as a manifestation of the public opinion against 
the hateful descendants of Ignatius. The Pope's 
indignation at this sacrilegious act knew no bounds, 
and from that instant he vowed an implacable and 

* We have to lament the decease of this illustrious Italian, which has 
happened while we were writing these pages. His country has not 
forgotten that it is due to him, perhaps more thau to anything else, that 
Piedmont is without J esuits. Monuments are to be erected to him, and 
his mortal remains will he transported from Paris to Turin at the public 
expense. But while all Italy is unanimous in regretting his loss, a 
Jesuit newspaper, the Armonia, attributing his sudden death to the 
judgment of God, exclaims, " See what it is to wage war against 
Heaven ! Gioberti died like Simon the magician, like Arius ! " A Jesuit 
In Rome asserted the same thing from the pulpit ; while the Romans 
repeat that the Jesuits have poisoned him. He was firm to the end in 
his hostility to the fathers, and in the last letter he wrote to the author 
of this history, encouraging him to proceed with the work, he adds, 
i( You will render a good service to our country." 

+ See my History of the Pontificate of Pius IX. , p. 29 andjf. 



474 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



intense hatred against the liberals of whatever 
nation.f 

Not only did Pius now refuse to grant any new 
concession, but he attempted to recall those which he 
had been forced to grant : and when he saw that he 
could not effect his purpose, he fled to Gaeta, in the 
hope that Rome and Italy would soon fall into a state 
of anarchy and confusion, so that the great powers of 
Europe would be obliged to interfere, and restore him 
to the throne as an absolute master. The wisdom 
and moderation of the people again disappointed his 
hopes. Never was Rome more true to her duty than 
during the absence of the Pope. For a while, even 
the government was carried on in the name of a 
sovereign who had abandoned the state, and who 
refused even to listen to three deputations sent to 
Gaeta to come to some understanding. This exaspe- 
rated Pius still more than anything else. From 
Gaeta he poured forth his curses on his subjects. 
And while he was giving; these manifestations of his 
paternal heart, the Jesuits and Cardinal Antonelli 
were laying the plan of that infernal compact between 
the Court of Rome and almost all the despots of 
Europe, for crushing and annihilating all seeds of civil 
and religious liberty, and for murdering, with merciless 
ferocity, all those who had shouted for reform, in the 
name and under the auspices of Pius IX. ; a just re- 
tribution, it should seem, for having trusted in a 
priest, and thought him capable of being an honest and 

+ A month before the Pope fled from Rome to Gaeta, the author had 
a conversation with Joseph Mastai, the Pope's brother, who had been an 
exile and a political prisoner during the last reign. He, to excuse the 
change in his brother's conduct, said, "I warned you not to attack 
religion, or you would ruin the cause of liberty. You have not listened 
to my advice, and you must abide the consequences." When I asked 
him in what respect we had shewn disrespect to religion, he answered, 
with great earnestness, " You have driven the Jesuits from Rome, and 
attempted to deprive the ecclesiastics of all authority." These words 
speak volumes. They express the true sentiments of the Pope, which 
were adopted, it seems, by his brother, who had formerly been a 
Carbonaro. 



THE JESUITS IN AFTER 1848. 475 



liberal man. Monsignor de Falloux, a Jesuit, brother 
of the then all-powerful minister of Louis Napoleon, 
was notoriously the soul of the negotiation, and it was 
he who decided the court of Rome to accept the 
succour of the French. The crusade undertaken 
against Rome, by four nations so different in charac- 
ter, and having such opposite interests, as Austria and 
France, Spain and Naples, was the signal of that fiery 
reaction against the liberty of all nations which still 
rages, and which, we fear, will not cease till another 
general outbreak shall teach the tyrants that it is not 
always safe to try too severely the patience of the 
people. 

Distressful consequences for the people followed the 
league. The Roman states were first made to feel the 
rage of the allies. Louis Napoleon, who, in 1831, 
had fought along with us to overturn the Papal 
throne, now sent an army in support of the Pope. 
He thought (I expressed this opinion in my History 
of the Pontificate, written two years ago) that 
priests and peasants would assist him to grasp the 
imperial sceptre, and that he could not better ingra- 
tiate himself with them, than by replacing the Pope on 
the throne ; an act which would also be very accept- 
able to the other despots. in consequence, he 
hastened to send his troops to crush the new republic. 
The French army landed at Civita Vecchia. The 
general chosen to command it was worthy of the end 
proposed. Oudinot is the type of Jesuitism : and 
Louis Napoleon himself has, more recently, given him 
his desert. Hardly had he landed on our shores, 
w T hen many of the fathers (we here relate facts of 
which we ourselves were witnesses) — as an envenomed 
brood, sprung by magic from the soil — put them- 
selves in communication with him. The very pro- 
clamation by which he announced the landing of the 
army was a masterpiece of Jesuitical craft. Accord- 
ing to its tenor, every party might have considered 



476 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



the French expedition as coming to its own support. 
Oudinot informed the first deputation sent by the 
republican government to inquire about the motives 
of this unwelcome visit, that the French came as its 
friends; but, some hours after, when pressed by a 
second deputation to be more explicit, he at last con- 
fessed that they came to replace the Pope on the 
throne.* It would be to our glory, but not to the pur- 
pose, to describe the prodigies of valour performed 
by our inexperienced volunteers, in contending for 
three months with forty-five thousand of the best troops 
of Europe. We fought as only citizens combat for 
home and liberty. Men and women were in the melee. 
Neither wife nor mother attempted by tears and 
entreaties to stay her husband or son, but with a 
blessing and a kiss sent him forth against the enemy. 
Rome ! my noble country ! when I remember 
thy noble deeds, the readiness with which thou didst 
sacrifice the noblest of thy children to achieve thy 
liberty, hope lends me patience to endure the longing 
and miseries of my exile ! Thou canst not be long 
under the yoke of the priests ! 

But our valour availed us nothing. Left alone, we 
could stand no longer. Four nations were leagued 
against us, and not a friendly hand was stretched forth 
to succour us. England must reproach herself for 
having left us to contend, unaided and alone, against 
four Catholic powers, combined together to re-establish 
the Pope, who is as much her enemy as ours. She 
must now feel the consequences of her culpable indif- 
ference. The result was — and this is of great import- 
ance for England — that at last, masters of our 

* The author was a member of this second deputation. Oudinot was 
at first indignant that we should think of offering opposition to his 
troops. "How!" said he, "two armies, the Neapolitans and the 
Austrians, are marching against Rome ! We come to succour you, and 
you speak of fighting us ! " And half an hour after this, when we pressed 
him hard, forgetting himself, he exclaimed, " Eh bien ! nom de Dieu 
nous venous pour remettre le Pape sur le trone." 



THE JESUITS IN AND AFTER 1848. 477 

destinies, the Austrians have established a military 
port at Leghorn, the French one at Civita Vecchia. 
Englishmen are cut down in broad day in the streets 
of Florence,* condemned to death by an Inquisi- 
torial tribunal at Rome,f imprisoned at Verona, t 
and insulted and ill-treated throughout all Italy. An 
English ambassador sues in vain for the friendly in- 
terference of the Pope in English affairs ; he is 
not listened to, and the newspapers of the peninsula, 
and of the powers adverse to England, laugh at 
his discomfiture. But there is in the looming a still 
darker and more serious prospect, threatening to 
punish England for having abandoned the cause of 
civil and religious freedom. Eighteen millions of 
Englishmen live, we will not say in perpetual fear — 
they are too brave for that — but not without appre- 
hension of seeing their shores invaded by the same 
army which conquered Rome, and which would c?rry 
w T ith it the blessing and the good wishes of Pius IX. 
— God forbid that it should also have the support of 
the most fanatical and ignorant portion of the Irish 
Papists, led by priests and Jesuits. We hope that 
this will not be the case ; yet we must remind our 
readers, that every time the French speak of a war 
with England, they count on the Irish as their 
natural allies. 

We are not of those who, possessed by the fixed 
idea that impending dangers threaten the Protestant 
religion, believe and affirm that Louis Napoleon will 
be ready, at the bidding of the Jesuits, to send 
an expedition against heretic England. On the con- 
trary, we think that, having once possessed himself 
of the imperial diadem, and having firmly estab- 
lished himself on the throne, through the instrumen- 
tality of the priests, and by the magic power which 
he seems to possess, of making the electoral urn yield 
exactly the amount of votes asked from it, he will 

* Mather. f Murray. X Newton. 



478 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



soon put a stop to the insolence of the clergy, which, 
we are sure, will increase in the direct ratio of the 
services they are rendering to the usurper, and of the 
favours he has lavished upon them. But at the same 
time, we firmly believe that, should Napoleon, in order 
to give employment to his troops, and to gratify the 
national animosity, attempt to invade Great Britain, 
or should he succeed in landing his adventurous bat- 
talions on the British shore, then, though England 
may not have to lament the treachery of the fanatic 
Papists of Ireland, she must expect to find in her bosom 
as many spies and allies of her enemy as she has J e- 
£uits on her soil. All this is the result of the indiffer- 
ence shewn by England to the affairs of the penin- 
sula. Had she interfered when the Romans were 
bravely struggling for their liberties, the Pope and 
Louis Napoleon would not have cemented with our 
blood their anomalous alliance, and the before-men- 
tioned disastrous results would have been averted with 
less difficulties and sacrifices than are now required to 
check the insolence of that monstrous coalition. And 
let no one affirm that England could not have justly in- 
terfered with the internal policy of other nations. What! 
shall then intervention only be lawful and commend- 
able when employed to oppress a nation awaken- 
ed to a sense of its rights, and to extinguish every 
spark of freedom and patriotism ? Shall it only be 
permitted to outrage humanity, and never to benefit 
it ? And to apply the rule to the case now in ques- 
tion, we ask, shall the ferocious bands of Croats, and 
the degraded soldiers of Louis Napoleon, trample upon 
our unfortunate country, and dispose of its destinies 
at their pleasure, and England remain an indifferent 
spectatress of their atrocious proceedings ? These are 
considerations which we beg leave to submit to the 
meditation not only of the statesmen of Great Britain, 
but also of every free and enlightened English citizen. 
To return to our narrative : the French entered 



THE JESUITS IN AND AFTER 1848. 



479 



Rome (3d July 1849), and with them priests and 
Jesuits, who had concealed themselves, or assumed dif- 
ferent disguises (not unfrequently that of patriots), re- 
appeared, to enjoy their triumph, and the groans of 
the unfortunate country. Oudinot, covered with the 
blood of the brave Romans, hastened to Gaeta to re- 
ceive the Pope's blessing and acknowledgment, and 
was hailed there as an angel of deliverance. The vin- 
dictive priests rejoiced at the recital of the slaughter 
of the flock committed to their paternal care, and made 
the General repeat the names and the numbers of the 
victims. Then, when the hero of St Pancrace * re- 
turned to Rome, the priests, to enjoy a barbarous 
pleasure, ordered a solemn Te Deum to be sung in all 
the churches of the state ; and those of the unfortu- 
nate Italians whose sustenance and liberty were in the 
power of their relentless enemy, were obliged to assist 
at the ceremony, and with their lips, at least, thank 
the Almighty for the slaughter of their best friends 
and nearest relations, f Blasphemous profanation ! 
Then began that ceaseless persecution which is still 
continued; and the priests gratified their thirst for 
revenge by crowding the dungeons with victims, and 
by driving thousands into exile in foreign lands. 
^ I will not prolong the painful history of our mise- 
ries. I will not speak of ruined families — of forlorn and 
wandering children. I will not dwell upon the fate of 
the ten thousand captives taken by Papal sbirri and 
French gens-d'armes, and who fill the prisons of the 
state. 1 will not implore the reader's compassion for 
the many victims who have been again immured in the 
dungeons of the Inquisition, some of whom, for the last 
three years, have never seen a friendly face or heard 

* Oudinot was named by the Pope Duke of St Pancrace, in comme- 
moration of his having destroyed a church dedicated to that saint, and 
also that part of the wall by which the French entered, which bears the 
same name. 

+ Many public officers were dismissed or imprisoned for refusing to be 
present at the Te Deum. 



480 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



a compassionate word. I will not point out the inhu- 
man and hypocritical conduct of the so-called Vicar of 
Jesus Christ, who, while speaking with devout emo- 
tion of his clemency, his paternal heart, and the mer- 
cies of the Christian religion, has. not granted a single 
pardon, dried a single tear, shortened for a single day 
the torments to which he has condemned thousands of 
his subjects. I shall only give an account of the whole- 
sale execution which, in the last month, took place at 
Sinigallia and Ancona, and which has filled Italy and 
Europe with horror and amazement. As the Jesuits 
are notoriously the soul and spirit of Popery, and are 
at the present moment the recognised advisers and 
ministers of the Court at Rome, this short narrative 
will not, we hope, be considered extraneous to our 
subject. 

Those who, in times of calm and tranquillity, judge 
of events that occur in epochs of commotion and revo- 
lution, when the passions of men are excited to the 
highest paroxysm, and the voice of reason imposes a 
feebler restraint upon their actions, leaving them little 
liberty to judge of the character of their actions, are 
apt to commit serious injustice ; for they are too prone 
to brand as criminal, and deserving the highest repro- 
bation, deeds which, although culpable in themselves, 
were yet committed under the impulse of heroism and 
devotedness. We do not intend by this to approve or 
countenance crime, no matter under what pretext it 
may have been committed. But assuredly there are 
circumstances that ought to be taken into account 
which might render it, if not excusable, at least less 
heinous and worthy of reprobation ; and whoever 
would form a just judgment in such cases, will never 
lose sight of these considerations. 

The first two years of Pius IX.'s pontificate are re- 
markably characteristic of the nobleness and genero- 
sity of the liberal party. Though the liberals had 
been, for the thirty years previous, so cruelly and mer- 



THE JESUITS IN AND AFTER 1848. 



481 



cilessly treated, and though they were now the domi- 
nant party in the state, they cannot be reproached 
with having offered an insult to their late oppressors, 
nor with a single act of revenge. But it is, unfortun- 
ately, true that, latterly, when the Pope had fled to 
Gaeta for the very purpose of exciting civil war, when 
the priests were plotting against the republic, calling 
in strangers to their aid, and menacing us with foreign 
invasion, many political assassinations were committed 
in Ancona and Sinigallia. This cannot be denied or 
palliated ; only it is to be remarked, that the crimes 
were confined to these two towns — the latter the 
Pope's birthplace ; and both places being the residence 
of his family, relations, and friends, a suspicion na- 
turally arose in the minds of many that these crimes 
were committed by persons misled- by the advice of 
some hidden Jesuits and partisans of the Pope, whose 
endeavour it was to bring matters to the. worst. The 
suspicion acquired strength from the circumstance, that 
nobody belonging to the Mastai family was injured. 
Although, as we have already reported, we were wit- 
ness of the fact that those who, during the late com- 
motion in Rome, proposed the most energetic and 
revolutionary measures, were, in the end, discovered 
to be the agents or the tools of the Jesuits, neverthe- 
less we would not like to affirm that the political mur- 
ders committed at Sinigallia were due to the perfidious 
instigation of the priests. We do not like to believe 
in the reality of such hellish perfidy ; yet why had 
Sinigallia and Ancona the sad preference of seeing 
their streets stained with fraternal blood ? Were there 
not exasperated minds also in other places ? Had no 
other populations of the state good grounds for calling 
to a strict and severe account the agents and supporters 
of the past tyrannical government? Why, we repeat, 
was the sad pre-eminence in guilt assigned to the 
native town of the Pope ? 

However it were, after the Papal restoration, about 



482 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



150 individuals were thrown into prison, accused of 
being the accomplices or the abettors of these crimes. 
Some of the accused, perhaps the guilty, were never 
taken, having fled from the country. About eighty 
were condemned to the galleys for life, the remainder 
to death.* Forty of the unfortunates have already 
been executed, and the rest will meet the same fate 
when the Pope shall find executioners as clement and 
humane as himself ; — the garrison of Ancona having to 
a man refused to be any longer the accomplices of the 
Papal revenge. 

What is of more importance than all this, is to place 
before the eyes of our readers and civilised Europe the 
manner in which political trials are conducted in the 
Poman states, in order that they may be aware of the 
justice, charity, and humanity which characterise the 
acts of him who blasphemously calls himself a god 
upon earth, the representative of Christ. 

Whoever has the misfortune to incur the displeasure 
or the hatred of his Holiness, his ministers, a police- 
man, a sbirro, the bishop, the curate, a monk, or any 
other of such rabble, which form an integral part of 
the biform Papal government, is thrown into a dungeon, 
helpless, comfortless, alone, and during several months 
hears and sees nothing else than the grating sound of 
the rusty bolts, and the inauspicious face of his guar- 
dian, who comes to bring his miserable pittance of food, 
and to ascertain that the victim cannot make his es- 
cape. After a longer or shorter space of time, but 
never shorter than three or four months, according to 
the hatred or fear the prisoner has inspired, or the 
interest possessed by his friends without, he is brought 
before a cancelliere o giudice processante, a sort 
of scribe, by whom he is interrogated.! In that exa- 

* Murray is of this number. 

f When nothing can be invented which may at least have the appear- 
ance of criminality, and the man is punished merely for his opinions, he 
is not interrogated at all, but is kept a prisoner as long as his persecutors 

lease, and released after five, six, or more years, without ever having 

een interrogated, or even seeing the face of a judge. 



THE JESUITS IN AND AFTER 1848. 



483 



mination all the care of the man of police — we can- 
not call him a magistrate — is directed to elicit from 
the victim a confession of his crime, or the name of his 
accomplices, if he is supposed to have had any. Pro- 
mises of liberty, favour, and recompence, are held out 
to him as an inducement to dishonour or perjure him- 
self. These examinations are repeated every three or 
four months ; and when at last the man of the law has, 
after some years, obtained what he wished, or despairs 
of obtaining it, the process is announced to be closed, 
and the judgment is going to be delivered. Then, and 
not till then, the accused may confer with a legal adviser, 
generally assigned to him, ex officio, by the tribunal ; and 
some little space of time is granted to him to prepare 
his defence. But how can he defend himself? He 
knows neither the names of his accusers nor of the 
witnesses who have made the accusation good. He is 
not allowed to confront and cross-examine them. Even 
his answers to the different questions put to him by 
the cancelliere are noted down, not as actually given 
by him, but as it was desired that they should be 
given, in order that he may appear a criminal, the 
only result which the judges wish to obtain. When 
the advocate has delivered his defence, the secret tri- 
bunal pass judgment without even seeing the face of 
the prisoner; and this judgment is without appeal. 
Such is the general practice observed in political trials. 
Robbers are a little better treated. In the peculiar 
case which we are considering, we have to add, that, as 
far as has transpired, all the witnesses who were called 
to give evidence against the accused belonged to the 
adverse party — the party of the Jesuits, thirsting for 
revenge, and eager to shew their devotion to the sect. 
It may be easily understood that those witnesses were 
not very scrupulous as to the charges they brought 
against the accused, being assured, as they were, that 
their names would never be made public, and that they 



484 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 

would not be confronted with the prisoner, nor oe 
cross-examined by anybody. 

And nevertheless, it was upon such testimony that l 4 3 
tribunal of the Consulta, composed of cardinals and 
prelates, condemned sixty unfortunate young men j 
suffer the last punishment of the law. We muj \ 
further observe that, had those men who composed 
the tribunal, which they call Sacred, been judges, 
and not persecutors, had they had any sentiment of 
humanity in passing the sentence, even though the 
crime had been proved, they would have borne in 
mind the time and the motives which led the culprits 
to commit the murder, and would not have added 
another red page to the annals of their Church, already 
overcharged with innocent blood.* 

Sinigallia, in which the executions were the most 
numerous, had not yet recovered from the horror in- 
spired by such a bloody tragedy, and had not dried 
its tears for the cruel fate of its butchered citizens, and 
especially for the innocent and unfortunate Simoncelli,f 
when, to complete its miseries and insult its grief, 
there appeared a Papal ordinance, granting to the 
Jesuits £40,000 sterling to erect a college in the 
desolate city. Ah ! so they reign in the Papal states ! 

** English, readers must be aware that in France, as well as in Italy, 
murder does not necessarily and inevitably import capital punishment. 
There are certain extenuating circumstances admitted. In the Roman 
states, indeed, very seldom is the common assassin executed. 

■f The fate of this generous and unfortunate young man has excited, 
and indeed deserves, the deepest commiseration. He was a merchant, and 
in '48 left his business to march with us into Lombardy ; he became lieuten- 
ant of the battalion commanded by the chevalier Greraldi, one of the Pope's 
nephews, and was intimate with Ercole Mastai, who was an officer in the 
same battalion. On returning from the war, he was raised, by the esteem 
of his fellow-citizens, to the rank of colonel in the national guard. When 
the fatal acts of revenge above narrated were perpetrated at Sinigallia, 
the author wrote to Simon celli from Rome, entreating him to use all 
his influence to repress these murders. He answered in a tone which 
left no doubt that he entirely condemned them. He said he had been 
able to save the lives of some, and would redouble his exertions to put 
a stop to crimes, which he abhorred and detested. I gave the letter to 
Mazzini. Yet this same man hasten shot as an-abettor and accomplice. 
Such is the justice of the priests ! 




THE JESUITS IN AND AFTER 1848. 485 



When the Jesuits re-en tered Naples in 1849, the 
uperior held a sort of levee, when the generals of 
Jie army, the first magistrates of the kingdom, and 
ill the civil and military authorities, went to pay their 
espects to those very humble monks. The addresses 
which were delivered on the occasion in praise of 
these men of Providence, these messengers of God, 
these restorers of all moral and sainted institutions, 
were, from their hyperbolical style, amusing in the 
extreme ; and it is curious to find that some of them 
were repeated almost literally (plagiarism seems to 
become very fashionable now-a-days) by some bishops 
to Louis Napoleon, the saviour of society, the man 
of Providence, the pearl of chastity and virtue — just 
as was done to the fathers themselves. 

If in Rome the Jesuits must shew deference to the 
chair of St Peter, in Naples they are masters of the 
situation. St Ignatius has superseded even St Janu- 
arius, and both have almost obliterated the name of 
Christ. The superstition and bigotry of that part of 
the peninsula exclusively under the sway of the 
Jesuits is almost incredible ; and the government, con- 
ducted on those principles, has reached the highest 
point of immorality and corruption, and is held up 
by every honest person, no matter of what party, 
to the execration and contempt of Europe ; while, to 
leave no doubt as to the influence which predomi- 
nates there, the Pope, the Jesuits, and the priests, 
their abettors, represent Ferdinand II. as a model of 
Christian perfection, and the kingdom of the two 
Sicilies as the best governed in the world ; the Roman 
states being of course excepted. 

Unfortunately, the wretched Neapolitans, and the 
noblest and best amongst them, have to pay with their 
liberties and their lives for the eulogium awarded by 
the Jesuits to the merciless Bourbon. The policy of the 
Neapolitan governments is a disgrace to civilisation. A 
band of ruffians, under the name of police or govern- 



486 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



ment, seize upon all persons who have had the misfor- 
tune to displease them ; their victims are thrown into 
prison, and are accused of imaginary crimes; while 
the accusers, changing themselves into witnesses, often 
into judges, in order to make good the charge, keep 
them chained for three or four years in Ischia, as in 
the case of Poerio and Dragonetti, and finally pass 
a sentence of death upon them, in order to give 
the pious and clement Ferdinand and his Jesuit 
confessor the merit of having commuted the infam- 
ous sentence into a horrid and perpetual imprison- 
ment ; and to all this complication of iniquities they 
give the name of a state trial. Such is the Neapolitan 
government under the conduct of the sons of Loyola. 

But the malignant spirit of the Jesuits, in breaking 
forth from Naples and Rome, has lately made an in- 
road into a province which, till then, had been spared 
its pernicious influence. Among all the other provinces 
of Italy, Tuscany had been favoured with a compara- 
tively just and tolerant government ; and this, it was 
openly asserted, was owing to the absence of the Jesuits 
from the country. Now, whoever has followed the 
march of events there, must have been struck by the 
wide difference that exists between the former policy 
of the government and the new one introduced after 
Leopold II. had been some time at Gaeta, under the 
influence of Antonelli and the Jesuits. From that 
moment all things changed in Tuscany. The priests 
re-acquired an influence which they had never pos- 
sessed since the time of Leopold I., and made it sub- 
servient to their unworthy ends. Madonnas became 
again miraculous. Feasts and processions were got up 
with the greatest pomp, and were numerously attended 
by all those who had anything to hope or fear from 
the government. A furious war was declared against 
all doctrines but those harmonising with the strictest 
ultra-Popish principles. Books and newspapers were 
interdicted, and no efforts were spared to bring the 



THE JESUITS IN AND AFTER 1848. 487 

enlightened, lively, and intellectual people of Tuscany 
to limit their literary pursuits to the perfect know- 
ledge of the Catechisms. 

The influence of the too notorious Bocella, by his 
own confession a Jesuit, was, above all, fatal to the 
country. While he was the chief adviser of the 
Grand Duke, the Grand Duchess went in proces- 
sion to worship a miraculous Madonna at Rimini, and 
Leopold himself ordered a sumptuous and extra- 
ordinary feast for another Madonna in Florence, to 
whose church he repaired in state. But at the same 
time, the most respectable citizens of Florence, Count 
Guicciardini and others, were prosecuted and exiled for 
the heinous crime of reading the Bible ; and two unfor- 
tunate and inoffensive creatures — the Madiais — have 
been condemned to the punishment of malefactors 
(hard labour), for having in their possession the sacred 
volume, and for discussing and endeavouring to prove 
its veracity. Later still, an ordinance of the Grand 
Duke re-establishes capital punishment, which had 
long since been abolished ; while another ordinance of 
the minister of police expels from the hospitable soil 
of Tuscany hundreds of unfortunate Italians, who had 
sought there a refuge against the ferocious and relent- 
less persecution of the Roman Court. Such are the 
effects of the influence of the Jesuits. 

What will become of Lombardy, already so wretched, 
now that Austria has decided on re-establishing the 
Jesuits there on an extended scale, it is disheartening 
to contemplate ; while, on the other hand, it is cheer- 
ing in the extreme for an Italian, and for every 
true friend of civil and religious liberty, to see the 
conduct of the Piedmontese government towards the 
Jesuits and the priesthood. 

The Jesuits, after their expulsion, were never per- 
mitted to re-enter the kingdom, and the priests are 
now subjected, like other citizens, to the laws of the 
land, and are obliged to submit to that equality which 



488 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



they consider as a disgrace to their privileged caste. 
For it must be borne in mind that the priest, and the 
conscientious one more than others, considers him- 
self a superior being, a man far above any layman., 
even though he were a king. He imbibes this idea 
from childhood, when he begins to dress in a peculiar 
garb, and is accosted by a respectful appellation. Ac- 
cording to the canonical law (and in Italy that law is 
universally respected and strictly enforced, except, 
indeed, in Piedmont), the moment an infant assumes 
the garb of a priest, and receives the first order (ton- 
sura), he is no more subject to the civil authorities ; 
he is henceforth only amenable to the ecclesiastical 
court, and whoever strikes him, incurs de facto ex- 
communication. After he has been consecrated priest, 
he pretends, or in reality believes, that it is in his 
power to oblige the Almighty to descend from 
heaven into his hands, and that at his bidding the 
flesh and blood of the Divine Redeemer is transub- 
stantiated into bread and wine, and in that form 
goes to sanctify his breast. Again, he believes, or 
feigns to believe, that it rests with him to open or shut 
the gates of heaven, and that he has the power of be- 
stowing everlasting beatitude or dooming to eternal 
damnation, according as he absolves from sin or 
refuses absolution. In fact, he puts himself in the 
place of God, of whom he calls himself the Anointed, 
and whose name he often usurps. When we consider 
all this, we do not wonder that the priests cannot 
endure equality of rights with other citizens. We 
are rather astonished that serious and enlightened 
people of this country can for a moment entertain the 
idea that the Irish Roman Catholic priests are sin- 
cere when they ask for equality of rights. Look to 
Piedmont; there the Romish priesthood enjoy this 
equality — nay, more than equality. Their religion is 
acknowledged to be the religion of the state ; and 
many are the writers who have lately been condemned 



THE JESUITS IN AND AFTER 1848. 



489 



fur disparaging it. They possess, also, some other less 
considerable privileges over the other citizens ; and yet 
they are far from being satisfied. On the contrary, 
they accuse the government of tyranny. The bishops 
are in open rebellion against the sovereign; priests 
and curates oppose the laws of the country. The 
pulpit, the confessional, are made subservient to their 
hatred of the new state of things ; and all this because 
the legislature attempts, not to deprive them of any 
right, or subject them to any incapacity, but to intro- 
duce equality, and to subject ecclesiastics of all sorts 
to the common law. The rage of the priesthood at 
this sacrilegious audacity on the part of the parlia- 
ment, in seeking to assimilate them to other men, is 
such, that they have launched a solemn act of excom- 
munication against all those who shall read the news- 
papers advocating such infamous measures. The Jesuits 
are at the bottom of all this, and their intrigues brought 
Piedmont but the other day to the brink of ruin. 
Fortunately, public opinion declared itself so strongly, 
and the king shewed such firmness, that their machi- 
nations proved abortive. It must be remarked in all 
this, that when the liberal newspapers reproach the 
clerical party with their acts or words, they always 
stigmatise them with the name of Jesuits — so univer- 
sally is the abhorred name coupled with all that is 
bad, cunning, and criminal ! 

Appalling and ominous of incalculable consequences 
is the influence which the Jesuits have acquired in 
France — in that country which has prostrated all its 
past glory and its dignity as a nation, at the feet of 
an unscrupulous, merciless tyrant; endeavouring, at 
the same time, to forget its ignominy in the intoxica- 
tion of feasts and champaigne. The Jesuits and priests 
are the firmest supporters of Louis Napoleon ; and it 
is worthy of remark, that the bishops who are known 
for their ultramontane principles and their adherence 
to the Jesuitical discipline are those who lavish the 



490 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS, 



highest euiogiums on the unprincipled usurper. This 
affords us another instance of the worldly spirit of the 
Popish clergy, and may be a salutary lesson for the 
future. For our own part, indeed, we are inclined to 
recognise in it the hand of Providence consummating 
the speedy downfall of the Popish religion. The con- 
duct of Pius IX. has already extinguished in Italy the 
last lingering sentiments of respect and devotion to- 
wards the Papal religion. The Italians had hopes for 
a moment that Pius would reconcile them to the religion 
of their forefathers, by shewing that it is not a religion 
of blood and persecution, but of love and brotherhood, 
eminently liberal and national. They had hoped that 
Popery, to which Italy owes all its misfortunes, would 
now change, and restore to it part of its former glory. 
And this idea prevented them from renouncing alto- 
gether religion such as it is preached to them. But 
now that no doubt remains as to the true spirit of 
Popery, now that no one can reasonably entertain the 
least hope that it will ever change from what it has 
been — an institution founded on superstition, ce- 
mented with blood, and maintained by the axe of the 
executioner — now that the last testing experiment has 
shewn to all the world its utter helplessness against free 
physical force, it may be truly said that Popery has 
been irrevocably doomed in Italy. It may linger yet 
a while by the aid of despotic bayonets, but never 
again will the Italians, of their own free will, repose 
their faith in the religion of the Popes. 

In precisely a similar manner are the priests and 
Jesuits now giving the last blow to the Popish religion 
in France. Let the present transient moment of de- 
lirium pass over, and the French nation will reconsider 
the servile and ignominious part played by the clergy 
in the recent immoral saturnalia. It will remember 
that the man who had perjured himself — who had 
caused thousands of citizens to be butchered because 
they were faithful to the laws — who had been a trai- 



THE JESUITS IN AND AFTER 1848. 



491 



tor to all governments from his youth — who had never 
kept his word — who had been distinguished for immo- 
rality and debauchery even among the unscrupulous 
lions of London and Paris — that this man was ex- 
alted by the surpliced emissaries of Rome as the man 
of Providence, the messenger of God, the restorer of 
morality and religion, and the benefactor of huma- 
nity. Who, need it be asked, will once again believe 
them, when speaking of the things of heaven, after 
they have lied so impudently and deliberately in 
speaking of the things of this world? But till a 
reaction take place, the Jesuits triumph in France. 

As we have had occasion to speak incidentally, in 
various parts of this work, of the arts and practices 
employed at the present moment by the Jesuits against 
England, and as our readers have daily so many means 
of ascertaining the manners of the fathers in the pub- 
lic prints, we do not think it necessary to add anything 
more in this place. We have also little to say about 
the actual missions of the J esuits in both Indies. They 
are neither prosperous nor important, and are only 
distinguished by their intrigues and by the war which 
they keep up against all other missionaries, whether 
Popish or Protestant. The actual wealth of the Jesuits, 
though considerable, is far from approaching the fabu- 
lous amount it possessed before the suppression. If 
our information and calculation are correct, and we be- 
lieve they are, the total number of the members to be 
found on the register of the Order amounts to nearly 
six thousand — an enormous increase since 1814, and 
such, indeed, as to give to reflective minds serious 
apprehensions. But we have nearly exhausted the 
space we had allowed ourselves. We must pass to the 
conclusion. 



CONCLUSION. 



493 



CONCLUSION. 

We are now at the end of our labours ; but, before 
parting with our readers, we would briefly call their 
attention to some of the chief points in our History. 
If we mistake not, the perusal of our narrative, imper- 
fect as it may be, will convince even an indifferently 
attentive reader that Loyola had but one end in view 
— one fixed idea — namely, to establish an order which 
should domineer over society ; and that his successors 
have been arrested by no scruples as to the means 
to be employed for obtaining this end. With the 
exception of this fixed rule, to which the Jesuits have 
adhered with undeviating constancy, it may be as- 
serted that they have no principle whatever. The 
dogmas of their creed, the precepts of their moral code, 
their political principles, all these they have changed or 
modified according to places and circumstances. They 
have been against or in favour of the Roman See, ac- 
cording as it served or injured the interests of the 
order. They have proclaimed the unlimited sove- 
reignty of the people, and have been instrumental in 
bringing many unfortunate persons to the scaffold, for 
resisting the tyrannical power of absolute monarchs. 
To accomplish their ends, they have all along thought 
that money would be the most efficient instrument ; 
hence their insatiable desire of wealth, to accumulate 
which, they violated all laws, divine and human. The 
riches got by illicit means have been ever expended 
for still more culpable purposes. A Jesuit does not 
desire or spend money for his own personal self; he 
is frugal in his habits, and parsimonious in expenditure 
as far as regards mere comforts ; but he is no miser. 
He does not hide his treasures in the bowels of the 



494 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



earth, but spends them freely to increase the influence 
and power of his order. The secret agent of the 
Society is handsomely rewarded ; the spy liberally 
paid. Ministers of different sovereigns are bought 
over by princely largesses ; and even the ruling 
beauties of courts are bribed to serve the order with 
costly and suitable presents. 

The fathers were also persuaded, from the beginning, 
that *it would greatly contribute to the grandeur and 
power of the order to insinuate themselves into the 
susceptible minds of the young, and they left nothing 
untried by which this might be effected. Other 
schemes — the conversion of heretics, the missions, the 
outward exercise of many of the Christian virtues — 
were all directed to the attainment of the same identical 
end — the aggrandisement of the order. 

Two other principal facts are deserving of attention. 
The first is, that, from the beginning, the establish- 
ment of the Society was everywhere opposed, and 
in all places where it was finally admitted, it was 
subsequently, at different epochs, persecuted, and 
convicted of iniquitous and abominable crimes. The 
second fact is, that the Society of Jesus, though it 
may at times have disregarded its rules of internal 
policy, has nevertheless maintained its general primi- 
tive character ; namely, its relentless domineering 
spirit, and the abnegation of every personal feeling 
in favour of the community. The Jesuits of the pre- 
sent day, unlike all other religious fraternities, which 
have invariably undergone so many modifications, are 
exactly the same as they were in Loyola's lifetime. 
Founded by that bold, despotic, and ambitious man, 
it seems as if his spirit had transmitted itself into the 
whole Society, and presided over all its acts. The 
Company, so to speak, has perpetuated the life of 
Loyola. If we would personify the order, we might 
represent it, after his likeness, as an apparently humble 
and sainted man, deeply absorbed in the contemplation 



CONCLUSION. 495 

of heavenly things, while in reality revolving in his 
capacious and daring mind projects of unbounded am- 
bition. There is no record in history of an association 
whose organisation has stood for three hundred years 
unchanged and unaltered by all the assaults of men 
and time, and which has exercised such an immense 
influence over the destinies of mankind. 

This perseverance of the order in its principles and 
policy is comparable to nothing except the correspond- 
ing constancy of the world in the opinion which it 
formed of the Society at its commencement, and which 
it still retains. " The moment," says an author of 
the beginning of the seventeenth century, " a great 
crime is committed, the public voice at once and 
unanimously accuses the Jesuits of being its perpetra- 
tors." And the same sentiments with regard to them 
prevail to this day. In former times, indeed, that 
opinion was so strongly and universally received, that 
our forefathers, less scrupulous than we are in the 
administration of justice, at the simple announcement 
of a misdeed, brought the Jesuit before the tribunal, 
and sometimes unjustly condemned him for crimes of 
which he was guiltless. Do, then, the Jesuits, from 
the habit of committing crimes, bear on their counte- 
nances the indications of a criminal and wicked dis- 
position, as is commonly the case with ruffians by pro- 
cession ? Or do they, by public and open misde- 
meanours, give the world a right to form this judgment 
of them ? By no means. YVe have already said the 
reverse. They appear, on the contrary, to conduct 
themselves as the most innocent, most inoffensive, and 
holy of men ; and, indeed, unless one has been present 
at the representation of Tar tuff e, he would not easily 
recognise the Jesuit from the undisguisedly honest 
man. However, we would not be so illiberal as to say 
that all the Jesuits are knaves. Our lamented friend 
Gioberti, when Father Pellico said to him, " Are we, 
then, all assassins and robbers?" answered, " By no 



496 



HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 



means. Individually, I consider you very honest 
fellows, and had I treasure, I would unhesitatingly 
intrust it to your keeping." We would not perhaps 
go quite so far ; but we will freely admit that the 
Jesuit may be individually honest, unless the interest 
of his order obliges him to be otherwise. For there 
are no considerations of religion, honesty, or virtue, 
which he does not feel himself bound peremptorily and 
at all times to sacrifice to this one supreme considera- 
tion. " The end sanctifies the means," is his favourite 
maxim ; and as his only end, as we have shewn, is the 
order,, at its bidding the Jesuit is ready to commit 
any crime whatsoever. 

Such, then, is the history of a Society dreaded and 
relied upon, worshipped and abhorred, which has pro- 
duced little good, and infinite mischief, and which, 
having been hurled down from the pinnacle of 
splendour and glory, attempts now, with renewed 
vigour and unceasing activity, to regain the summit of 
its ancient pre-eminence. An appalling prospect, fore- 
boding no good to the welfare of mankind ! One 
cheering idea, however, still remains to dissipate the 
evil apprehension. The Jesuits, now more decidedly 
than ever, have identified themselves with the cause of 
despotism, fanaticism, and ignorance; and the day on 
which the tottering thrones of tyranny shall crumble 
under the mighty and resistless arm of progressive 
civilisation, they will bury deep and for ever under 
their ruins all traces of the influence once possessed by 
this most formidable and pernicious Society. 



THE END. 



INDEX. 



A. 

Abbot of St. Cyran, writings of, 

232 ; history of, 233 
Abolition of the Order, 362, 374— 

376, 411 

Absolution, origin of the doctrine. 
13; consequences of the, 243 — 
245 

Acquaviva, Fifth General of the 
Order, 90; character of, 186, 
210 ; election of, ibid ; his success 
in Spain, 228; his opinions on the 
theology of St. Thomas, 230 ; on 
the doctrines of Grace and Free- 
Will, 231; death of, 255; con- 
sequences of, to the Order, 256; 
his successor, ibid 

Administrators, appointment and 
duties of, 38, 55; pre-eminence of, 
316 

Admonitors, 54 — 56 

Adrian VI, confessions of, 30 

Albert of Bavaria, supports the 
Jesuits, 199 

Albigenses, massacre of the, 60 

Alcala, introduction of Jesuitism , 22 ; 
oppositions to the Order in, 79 

Alexander VII, opposes the doc- 
trines of the Augustinus, 234 

of Russia expels the 

Jesuits, 433 

Alva, Duke of, 135; his charac- 
ter, 146 

America, Jesuit missions of, 297 ; 



state of religion in 298 ; conduct 
of the Jesuits in, 300 ; features of 
the mission in, 302 — 313 ; ex- 
change of possessions in, 333 

Analysis of the brief of suppres- 
sion, 387 

of the bull of re-establish- 
ment, 442 

of the constitution, 31 — 

33 

of the brief of re-esta- 
blishment, 442 

Ancona, executions at, 480, 481 

Angouleme, Duke of, aids the 
Jesuits, 450 

Angustinus, publication of the, 233 

Antonelli, Cardinal, plots the revo- 
lution in Rome, 474 

Antony, St., miracles of, 258 n. 

Antwerp, Jesuit congregations of, 
217 

Archbishops of the Society, 408 
Armada, Jesuits connected with 
the, 168 

Armagh, Archbishop of, seeks to 
suppress the Protestants in Eng- 
land, 63 

Arret, for the expulsion of the Ja 
suits from France, 224 

Alliance, purport of the, 180 

Assassination of Queen Elizabeth 
projected, 164; encouraged by 
the Jesuits, 165, 166, 168 

— of Henry IV, 254 

Assembly of Bishops, 346 



498 



INDEX. 



Austria, restoration of the Jesuits 
to, 200, 450 ; their influence in, 
253 ; governed by Jesuits, 435 ; 
Jesuits refused admission to, 452; 
aids the Pope in the late revolu- 
tion, 475 ; consequences to, 477 

Authors, Jesuit, 15, 96 

Averio, Duke of, executed, 340, 341 

Avignon, Jesuit congregation of, 
217; is seized by the French, 
359 



B. 

Babixgtox, conspiracy of, 167 
Baptism, Jesuit administration of 

the ordinance, 110 
Barcelona, Vice-King of, aids the 

Jesuit influence in Spain, 62 
Barriere, attempts to assassinate 

Henry IV, 187; hh confession, 

ibid; is executed, 188 
Barry, Father, writings of, 247 
Bavaria, supremacy of the Jesuits 

in, 253 

Bedloe, character and plot of, 292, 
293 

Belgium, flourishing state of the 
Jesuits in, 454; their designs 
on, ibid 

Bellarmine, Robert, on the " Poli- 
tical Creed" of the Jesuits, 
191 

Benedict XIV, opposes the Jesuits, 
128, 328 

Bernis, Cardinal, 363 ; his answer 
to the Conclave, 365; intrigues 
for the election of Pope, 375 ; 
urges Clement to destroy the 
Jesuits, 378—380 
Bishops, 346 ; number of, 408 
Boarders in Jesuit colleges, 219, 
220 

Boarding-houses, connected with 

the colleges, 214 
Bobadilla, one of the ten founders 



of the Order, 28 ; mission of, to 
Naples, 59; is expelled by Charles 
V, 76; banished, 77; heads a 
revolt against Lainez, 134 ; his 
letter to, 142 

Books, Protestant, confiscation of, 
at Vienna, 201 

Borgia, character of, 7 ; is admitted 
to the Society, 35 ; uses his in- 
fluence to establish the Jesuits in 
Spain, 62; elected Vicar-General, 
145 ; visits Spain and France, 
148; his death, 149 

Bourbon, Cardinal de, assumes the 
title of King of France, 182 

Bourbon, influence of the House of, 
378 

Braganza, Duke of, crowned King 
of Portugal, 275, 276 

Braschi, made Pope, under the title 
of Pius VI, 425 ; character of, 
426 ; his conduct towards the 
Jesuits, ibid. 

Briant, execution of, 163 

Bridgewater, John, on the " Poli- 
tical Creed" of the Jesuits, 
191 

Brief of suppression, 382, 383; 
analysis of the, 387 — 406 ; pro- 
visions of the, 422 

— for the re-establishment of 

the Jesuits, 439 ; analysis of the, 
440 

Brotherhood, Jesuit, 21 7; doctrines 

and practices of the, 235 
Brouet, his mission to Ireland, 64 
Brugellette, Jesuit college of, 458 
Bulls issued against Queen Eliza- 
beth, 153, 162 

against the Jesuits, 

127, 128, 313, 328 

for the suppression of 

the Order, 387 
for the re-establish- 
ment of the Order, 439, 442 

in favour of the Order, 28, 62 

Busembaum on the " Political 
Creed" of the Jesuits, 193 



INDEX. 



499 



C. 

CiESAR, Julius, character of, 7 
Calvinism, doctrines of, 183 
Calvinists, persecution of, 270, 273 
Campion, his mission to England, 

154 ; arrest of, 161; trial of, 

163 

Caridia, Duke of, aids the Jesuits, 
62 

Candidates for the Order, require- 
ments of, 31—37, 448 

Canisius, Peter, 62 

founds the College of 

Friburg, 206 

Canonization, rules for, 258 — 262, 
310 n. 

— of Loyola and Xavier, 

262 

Cano, a Dominican friar, preaches 
against the Jesuits, 78; is made 
Bishop of the Canaries, 79 

Canova, statue of Clement XIII by, 
361 

Caraffa, General, 317, 318, see 

"Paul IV" 
Cardinals, Jesuit, 408 
Carlos, Don, supported by the 

Jesuits, 451 
Carvalho, Minister of Portugal, 331; 

created Marquis of Pombal, 332 ; 

see <f Pombal 99 
Casimir, King of Poland, 282 
Castilians, revolt of the, 450 
Catechisms, Jesuit, 197 
Catesby, 286 

Catherine of Austria, deposed by 
the Jesuits, 171 

i de Medicis, opposes the 

Jesuits, 3 76, 177 

— of Russia, protects the 

Jesuits, 430, 431 

Catholicism, decline of, 58 

Catholics, Roman, first persecuted 
in England, 163 

Cave of Manreze, the place of Loy- 
ola's retirement, 13 

Ceremonies, Catholic, 249, 250, 262 



Charamonti, 438 ; re-establishes the 

Jesuits, 439 
Charles I, of England, 290 

Ill, of Spain, 349; expels 

the Jesuits, 350; his motives for, 
352 — 354; seeks to destroy the 
Jesuits, 379 

— : V, opposes the Order, 75 

IX, of France, 179 

Chastel, John, attempts to assassi- 
nate Henry IV, 188; his punish- 
ment, 189, 190 
China, Jesuit mission to, 105 
Choiseul, minister of France, 331; 
attempts to reform the Order, 
346; character or, 347, 348 
Christina of Sweden and the Jesuits, 
282, 283 

Church of England agitated by 
Catholic aggression, 163 

Evangelical, of Cracow, 

attacked by the Jesuits, 280 

— of Rome, decline of the, 8, 

9; doctrines of, 14, 15, 40; con- 
dition of, in the 16th century, 
30, 31; supremacy of, 195; re- 
storation of, in Austria, 201; in 
Sweden, 203; arrogance of, to- 
wards England, 467 

Churches of America, 299 

Civilization, progress of, 7 

Civita Vecchia, arrival of French 
troops at, 475; becomes a French 
port, 477 

Classes of Jesuits, 46_,462 

Clement VIII, Pope, 231, 232 

XIII, 338; his partiality 

for the Fathers, 339; protects 
the Jesuits, 357, 359; death of, 
360; monument of, by Canova, 
361 

XIV, 371; character of, 

372, 383, 420; is elected Pope, 
375; policy of, 376, 378; hesi- 
tates to suppress the Jesuits, 
381—384; death of, 412; mys- 
terious cause of the, 414 — 420 

Clergy, Roman Catholic, two classes 



500 



of, 178 n. ; subjected to the 
Jesuits, 272 

Coadjutors, 44, 49, 50 

Code of legislature for Jesuit schools, 
213—215 

moral of the Jesuits, 230 — 252 

Coimbra, first college of the Jesuits 
founded at, 62 

College of Cardinals, 253 

Colleges of the Society, 39, 48, 62, 
90; endowed by Gregory XIII, 
150; class of education imparted 
in, 214; rules for the admission 
of pupils to, ibid ; internal life 
of the, 219; discipline in, 221; 
education of English youths in, 
152, 153, 168; established in 
France, 178, 458; character of, 
185; in Germany, 196, 452; in 
Austria, 200; in Switzerland, 206; 
in Spain, 451; in Gallicia, 452; 
in England, 459; in Ireland, 461; 
in Italy, 484; number of at the 
time the Society was suppressed, 
408 

Cologne, Jesuits in, 196 
Commerce of tlie Order, seat of, 

277; character of, in Europe, 335, 

336 

Commotions among the Jesuits, 209 
Communism in America, 303 
Companions of the Order, 23, 24 
Company of Jesus, 45, see * 1 Society 
of" 

Conclave, affairs of the, 368 — 372 
Confession, doctrine of, 41, 238 — 

244, 287; practised in Jesuit 

colleges, 220 n. } 221 n. 
Confessors, importance of, 236, 237; 

influence of, 322; to the Kings 

of France, 254, 255, 267, 271, 272 
■ influence of, in Portugal, 

171; removal of, 335 
Congregation of rites, 259, 260 n. 
Congregations, or assemblies of the 

Order, 53; origin of the, 217; 

various denominations of, ibid; 

abolished by the Parliament, 348 



Congregations, general, 53; dim. 
culties of assembling, 134; in- 
fluence of the, 217; decrees of, 
277, 278 

of the Holy Virgin, 

217, 455 

provincial, 56 

of the Sacred Heart, 

455 

Congress of Poissey, 143 

of Worms, 58 

Consalves de Camera, influence of, in 

Portugal, 171 
Conspiracies of the Jesuits in 

England, 164, 165, 285, 286, 292 

: in France, 179, 186 

in Portugal, 172, 173, 

276 

Conspirators, trial and execution of, 

in England, 285, 289 
Constitution of the Society, 30; 

analysis of the, 31 — 33; changes 

in the, 317; exposition of the, 

345 

Convent of Santa Martha, 59 

of Santa Catherine, 59 

Converts, Jesuit, 463 
Cordeliers, Order of, 369 
Corsica, Jesuits in, 358 
Cotton, Father, apologetic letter of, 
255 

Council of Poissey, 177 

Seize, 182 n. 

Trent, 143, 144 

Court of Rome, struggles with the 
Jesuits, 235, 328; succumbs to 
the Order, 322; two distinct 
powers of the, 363 

Cracow, Evangelical Church of, 
attacked by the Jesuits, 280 

Creed, political, of the Jesuits, 
191—193, 931 

Creighton, conspiracy of, 164 

Cretineau-Joly, writings of, 15; on 
the conspiracies in England, 161, 
166; on the " Imago Primi 
Soeeuli," 265; on the conspiracies 
in Portugal, 271; on the conduct 



INDEX. 



501 



of the Jesuits in England, 458, 
459; on " Puseyism," 464 
Cromwell, Jesuits discouraged by, 
291 

Crusades, 475 
Cyran, St., 232, 233 



D. 

Days of the barricades in France, 
181 

Decrees against the Jesuits in Por- 
tugal, 342; execution of the, 355; 
in England, 161; in Spain, 
351 

Democracy, encouraged by the 

Jesuits, 194 
Diet of Nuremberg, 30 
Dissensions among the Jesuits, 

210 

Doctrine of absolution, 13, 243 
—245 

of confession, 140, 238 — 

243, 287 

of equivocation, 244 

of free will, 231 

of grace, 231 

of infallibility, 233, 234 

of transgression, 238 

Doctrines of the Church of Rome, 

13, 18, 40 
. of the Gallican Church, 

177, 178, 179«. 

of Janseniiis, 233, 234 

of the Jesuits, 168, 191, 

194, 230—234, 236—250 
Dominicans oppose the Jesuits, 231 
Don Carlos supported by the Jesuits, 

451 

Pedro, Jesuits expelled from 

Portugal by, 451 

Dress of the Jesuits, 43 

Dubarry, Mme de, 386 

Du Prat, Bishop of Clermond, esta- 
blishes the Jesuits in Paris, 84 



E. 

Earthquake of Lisbon, 334 
Edict of Nantes, 270 ; revoked, 271 
Edicts of Henry VIII, 63 
— : — of Queen Elizabeth against 

the Jesuits, 157 
Education of the Jesuits, 48, 196 

197 ; the cause of their influence, 

213; course of, 221; character 

of, 222, 224 
Election of Generals, 49, 53, 136 

145, 149, 256 
-of Popes, party struggles 

for the, 362, 367, 369 
Electors, 408 

Elizabeth, Queen, persecuted by the 
Jesuits, 153, 284; character given 
her by the Catholics, 154 ; pro- 
jected assassination of, 164, 165; 
excommunication of, 162; her 
opinions on the apostacy of Henry 
IV of France, 183 n. 
Elliot, conspirators betrayed by, 161 
Emancipation Act, tendency of, to 

check the Jesuits, 462 
Emperor, attachment of the Romans 

to the title, 366 
Emperors of Austria, 278, 450 

of France, 436, 438, 447 

448, 455 

of Germany, 75, 365, 368 

Emeute des Chapeaux, 350 
Emmanuel Sa on the " Political 

Creed" of the Jesuits, 191, 192 
Encyclopaedists, 329; attempt to 

reform the Order, 347 ; the 

French revolution ascribed to, 

437 

England, dawn of the Reformation 
in, 8 ; mission of the Jesuits to, 
63—70, 151—156; conduct of 
the Jesuits in, 158—162, 283; 
peace of, disturbed by them, 169, 
284, 292; present relation of the 
Jesuits to, 194; their plots in, 
284 — 296 ; position of, during 
their suppression, 453 ; Jesuits, 
2 K 



502 



refugees, admitted to, 459; causes 
which tend to check their progress 
in, 462 ; efforts to restore Ro- 
manism in, 464; destruction of, 
intended by the Jesuits, 465,466; 
Italy abandoned by, 476 ; Jesuit 
emissaries in, 464 

Epitome of the history of the 
Jesuits in Portugal, 332 — 335 

Equivocation, Jesuit doctrine of, 
244 

Escobar, on the moral doctrines of 

the Jesuits, 236 
Estates in England given to the 

Jesuits, 459; consequences of, 

460 

Establishments of the Order, 366, 
410 

Europe, state of, in the sixteenth 
century, 1 ; commerce of the 
Jesuits in, 335 — 337; moral 
condition of, at the period of the 
French revolution, 436, 437 

Eve of St. Bartholomew, massacre 
on the, 148, 159 

Excommunication of Queen Eliza- 
beth, 162; of Henry III of 
France, 1S1 ; of the Duke of 
Parma, 358 

Exeter, Lord Bishop of, a supposed 
member of the secret class, 464 

Execution of Jesuits in England, 
163, 165 

in France, 189 

in Portugal, 

341 

Exercises, religious, in the Church 
of Rome, 17; for the Novitiates, 
46—48 



F. 

Fathers of the Faith, 422; take 
part in the French revolution, 
455; abolished by Napoleon, ibid 



Ferdinand aids the Jesuits in per- 
secuting the Protestants, 278; is 
again associated with them, 450 

Florence, persecution of Protestants 
at, 477 

Florida Blanca, Count, Spanish 
Ambassador to Rome, 385; his 
hatred of the Jesuits, 427 
Fortis elected General, 449 
Founders of colleges, benefits de- 
rived by, 39 
Founders of the Society, 29 
France, mission of the Jesuits to, 
62; opposes the Order, 83—88, 
175, 3 77; progress of the Jesuits 
in, 178, 181; origin of the civil 
wars in, 179; expulsion of Jesuits 
from, 189, 349; readmits them, 
224 — 226, 450; influence of 
the Jesuits in, 253, 266, 272, 
274; their overthrow in, 328, 
330. 458; causes of the, 329, 
343; encourages political reform, 
331 ; revolutions in, 436, 455, 
457; present position of the Je- 
suits in, 458, 489. 
Frederick of Prussia protects the 
Jesuits, 423 ; explanations of his 
conduct, 427—429 
Free Will, doctrine of, 231 
Friburg, college of, founded, 206; 
present condition of the, 450 ; 
congregation of, 217 



G. 

Gaeta, Pope Pius IX takes refuge 
at, 474 

Galicia, Jesuits in, 435 ; schools 
and colleges of, 452 

Ganganelli, 369 ; character of, 370, 
372, 374; elected Pope under 
the title of Clement XIV, 371, 
375; slandered by the Jesuits, 
411 ; decline and death of, 413 



IKDEX. 



503 



— 420 5 his successor, 425. See 
also Clement XIV 

Garnet, connection of with Gun- 
powder Plot, 286 

Generals of the Order: — Acquaviva, 
elected, 1581, 210; Barzozowski, 
1805, 448; Borgia, 1567, 146; 
Caraffa, 1646, 317; Czerniwiecz, 
432; Fortis, 1820, 449; Gon- 
zales, 1687,324; Gottifredi, 1652, 
319; Grouba, 1801,432; Roller, 
432; Lainez, 1558, 136; Len- 
keawiecz, 432; Loyola, 1541,58; 
Mercurianus, 1572, 150; Nickel, 
1652, 319; Noyelle, 1681,324; 
Oliva, 1664, 320; Piccolomini, 
1649, 319; Ricci, 1758, 357; 
Rootham, 1829, 458; Tambourini, 
1705, 325; Vitelleschi, 1615, 
256 

powers of, 31—34, 45, 48; 

election of, 49, 53, 136 ,145, 319 ; 
limitation of the office, 137, 212; 
their influence on the congre- 
gations, 217; diminished power 
of, 256; their office in canoni- 
zation, 311 n. 

Genoa, Jesuits repulsed from, 358 

Germany, dawn of the Reformation 
in, 8; mission of the Jesuits to, 
59; decline of the Order in, 75, 
76; Jesuit influence in, 194; 
miseries arising to the country 
from, 278 ; Princes of, limit the 
authority of the Jesuits, 327, 328; 
Joseph, Emperor of, visits Rome, 
365 — 369; Jesuits dismissed from, 
452; present position of, ibid 

Gesii, visit of the Emperor Joseph 
to the, 366, 367 ; Jesuits reas- 
sembled at the, 447 

Gioberti on the i( Secret Class," 
46; on the <e Spirit of the Con- 
stitution," 317; his death, 473rc. 

Goa, arrival of Xavier at, 101 ; 
character of the inhabitants, 102 

Gospels, as translated by the Je- 
suits, 185 



Gottifredi, elected General of the 
Order, 319 

Grace, doctrine of, 231 

Great Britain, increased influence of 
the Jesuits in, 153, 465 

Gregory XIII, 149 ; colleges 
founded by, 150, 153; his enmity 
to England, 159; to John of 
Sweden, 205 ; assemblies or- 
ganized by, 217 

Grenada, Jesuits in, 139, 287 

Grouber, chosen General in Russia, 

• 432, 433 

Guise, Duke of, 179; chosen chief 

of the Holy Alliance, 180 ; his 

ambition and death, 181 
Guinard executed in France, 189 
Gunpowder Plot, connection of the 

Jesuits with, 283 — 286 ; results 

of the, 292 



H. 

Habeas Corpus Act, origin of 
the, 292 

Hanover, House of, conduct of the 
Jesuits under the, 459 

Henry III of France, 179; cha- 
racter of, 180, 181 ; death of, 182 

IV of Bourbon forms a 

league with Philip of Spain, 182 ; 
abjures the loctrines of Calvin, 
183, 270 ; attempted assassina- 
tion of, 187, 189 ; re-establishes 
the Jesuits in France, 225; grants 
letters patent, 254 ; death of, 
ibid 

VIII of England and the 

Jesuits, 63, 64 
Hierarchy of the Jesuits, 45, 53 
Hindoos, missions of the Jesuits to 

the, 108, 109 
Holland, Jesuits in, 453 
Holy Alliance, or League, purport 

of the, 180 ; members of, ibid 



504 



rtTDEX. 



Houses connected with Jesuit Col- 
leges, 214 

of novitiate, 46 

of probation, 32 

■ of professed members, 408 

Huguenots, persecution of the, 270, 
273 ; massacre of, 271 

Hume on " Babington's Conspi- 
racy," 167 

on the ie Jesuit Conspiracies 
in England," 162,163 



I. 

Idolatry, introduced into the 
Christian form of worship, 108 — 
111; practised in America, 307 

Ignatius of Loyola, see " Loyola " 

Ignorance, doctrine of the invin- 
cibility of, 238, 239 

II Gesuita Moderno, 473 

Images, worship of, taught by the 
Jesuits, 249 

Imago Primi Sceculi, 263, 264 

India, Jesuit missions to, 101, 297; 
influence of the Jesuits in, 128; 
Jesuit commerce in, 336 

Indians, effects of Spanish cruelties 
on the, 297; drilled by the 
Jesuits to arms, 305; Jesuit 
influence over the, 301, 302, 305; 
revolt of, 333 

Ingoldstadt, Jesuit college at, 197 

Innocent X, Pope, 233 

Inquisition, restored by Loyola, 59; 
rules of the, 60, 61; working of 
in Italy, 61; in Spain, 148, 209 

Inquisitors, appointment of, 60 

Inspruck, Jesuit college of, 452 

Institute, Jesuit, established by Par- 
liament, 348 

Institutions, founded by Loyola in 
Rome, 59 

religious, of the Jesuits, 

455 



Instructions, gratuitously imparted 
by the Jesuits, 198, 327; design 
of, 213; character of the, 221 
Insurrections in America, 333 

in England, 63, 285 

in France, 273 

in Madrid, 350, 451 

Interim, published by Charles V, 75 
Intrigues of the Court of Rome, 
363, 364 

Ireland, Jesuits sent to, 64; their 
design and work in, 68; renewed 
mission to, 151 ; Jesuit college in, 
461 ; rapid increase of the Jesuits 
in, 462 

Isabella Rosello, see "Rosello" 
of Spain, opposed by the 

Jesuits, 451 
Italians, their hatred to the Order, 

449, 450 

Italy, the centre of civilization, 6; 
restoration of the Inquisition in, 
62; influence of the Jesuits in, 
253; political reform encouraged 
in, 331; Jesuits expelled from, 
357, 358, 473; re-established in, 
447; present power of the Jesuits 
in, 469, 471; state of before the 
pontificate of Pius IX, 470, 471; 
civil wars in, 474 — 478 



J. 

James II, reign of, 293 

VI, designs of the Jesuits on, 

164, 284; his connection with, 

169 

Jansenism, origin of, 232 
Jansenius, 232; persecution of, 268, 
273 

Japan, Jesuit mission to, 104; cha- 
racter of the Japanese, ibid 

Jesuits, origin of the, 24; require- 
ments of, 34, 35, 38; dress of, 
43; characteristics of the, 67, 



INDEX. 



505 



195, 493, 495 ; works of, 68, 69; 
causes of their success, 90; immo- 
rality of, 140—143; wealth of, 
150, 493; influence of, over the 
minds of youth, 169; political 
creed of, 150, 191—193, 194; 
reflections on the influence and 
conduct of, throughout Europe, 
207, 208; internal commotions 
of the Order, 209; influence of, 
213, 217, 266, 312, 458; ascen- 
dancy of over all other powers, 
218, 253; moral code of the, 231; 
principal seat of their power, 254; 
commerce of, 277, 335—338; 
conduct of, during the Thirty 
Years , War, 278, 279; causes of 
the discord between them and 
other orders, 311; causes of their 
decline, 315, 326—329; attach- 
ment of, to the Order, 321; 
golden age of, 322; condition of, 
in the seventeenth century, 323; 
downfall of, 326—329; expelled 
from Portugal, 343; from France, 
348, 349; from Spain, 350, 351, 
358; refused admission to the 
Papal dominions, 357, 358; re- 
ceived into Corsica, 358; abolition 
of the, 376; suppressed by the 
Pope, 380, 387; condition of the, 
after their suppression, 422 — 435; 
re-establishment of, 436 — 467; 
the natural enemies of liberty, 
438; present designs of, 454; 
their position in and after the 
year 1848, 469, 491 
Jesuits in America, 398, 301, 
333 

in Austria, 200 

in England, 155—168, 170, 

194, 283, 284, 291 
in France, 176—179, 182, 

184—189, 224, 271—274, 328— 

330, 349 

in Germany, 194, 198—202, 

278, 327 
in Great Britain, 153 



Jesuits in Poland, 202, 203, 253, 
280, 282 

in Portugal, 171, 172, 253, 

275, 277, 331, 334, 342 

in Prussia, 423—429 

in Russia, 423, 430, 431 

■ in Sardinia, 448 

in Scotland, 152, 169 

in Sicily, 433 

in Silesia, 424, 433 

in Spain, 209, 350, 450, 451 

in Sweden, 195, 205 

in Switzerland, 205 

in the Venetian States, 226 

in White Russia, 430, 433 

under the House of Hanover, 

459, 462, 469 

under Mazzarini, 267 

under Richelieu, 266, 267 

Jesuitism, progress of, 58, 59; true 
spirit of, 277, 311; compared 
with Protestantism, 464; spread 
of, in England, 460; decline of, 
in Germany, 75 ; in Spain, 78— 
81; in Portugal, 82; in France, 
83 

John III, of Portugal, 171 

of Sweden, subverts Protest- 
antism and aids the Jesuits, 203 ; 
vaccilation of, 204, 205 

Joseph I, of Portugal, 175; at- 
tempted assassination of , 339, 340 

II, of Germany, 365; de- 
signs of on Papal power, 367 

Julius Caesar, see " Caesar" 

Justitia Britannica, 163 



K. 

Kenney, Father, President of Jesuit 

colleges in Ireland, 461 
King of the Jesuits, 202 
Kinss, Jesuit, of Poland, 202, 282 

of Portugal, 175 

Koller, General of the Order, 432 



508 



INDEX. 



L. 

Lachaise, Pere, 270 

Lacroix on the " Political Creed" 
of the Jesuits, 193 

Lainez, a companion of Loyola, 23; 
accompanies him to Rome, 26; 
erects a convent in Venice, 62; 
appointed Vicar-General, 133, 
136 ; attends the Congress of 
Poissy, 143; assembles the Coun- 
cil of Trent, ibid ; character and 
death of, 144; instigates the per- 
secution of the Waldenses, 206 ; 
his successor, 145 

Lambe.rtini, 338 

Lavallette, Father, 38 ; character of, 
344, 345 

Laws enacted in England against 

the Jesuits, 167, 292 
issued in France against the 

Jesuits, 189 
League, or 1 ' Holy Union," 179; 

chief of, elected, 180; object of 

the, ibid; termination of the, 184 ; 

part taken by the Jesuits in, 185 
Lefevre, a Companion of the Order, 

23; one of its founders, 28; 

mission of, to Spain, 58 
Legends of Loyola, 22 n., 23 n. 
Leghorn, Jesuits repulsed from, 

358 ; becomes an Austrian port, 

477 

Lejay, mission of, to Germany, 59 

Leo X, character of, 7 

Leopold, Duke of Tuscany, 365; 

admits the Jesuits, 486 
Lepanto, battle of, 148 
Letellier, 272, 273 
Lettre de cachet, 272 n. 
Liberals, Jesuits opposed to, 438 ; 

hatred of Pope Pius IX to, 

474 

Lisbon, the seat of Jesuit commerce, 

277 ; great earthquake in, 334 
Literature, importance of, 222 
Liverpool, Jesuits established at, 
459 



Lombardy, Jesuits in, 487 

Loyola, Ignatius, biography of, 10, 
21, 23; writings of, 14—17, 
30 n. ; visions of, 15; pilgrim- 
age of, 21 ; his attempts at pro- 
selytism, 22; disciples of, 24, 
28; vows of, 24, 25 ; elected First 
General of the Order, 57; insti- 
tutions founded by, 59 ; character 
of, 90; his correspondence with 
the Sovereigns of Europe, 93; 
illness and death of, 93, 94; 
canonized as a sain£ 262 ; statue 
of, 367 ; state of the Society at 
his death, 408 ; his chief aim, 
493 

Louis XIII, Jesuit influence under, 
266 

XIV, confessors of, 267, 272 ; 

assumes the Government, 269 ; 
marries Madame de Maintenon, 
272 

XV supports the Jesuits, 330; 

character of, 346 

Napoleon, see " Napo- 
leon " 

Louvaine, Jesuit college first 

founded at, 62 
Lucerne invaded by the Jesuits, 458 
Luther, excommunication of, 8 ; 

doctrines of, 232 
Luynes, Cardinal, 346 



M. 

Madiais, offence and punishment 

of the, 487 
Madrid, insurrection of the Jesuits 

in, 350, 451 
Maintenon, Madame de, 270, 272 
Malabar, mission of Xavier to, 103 
Malacca, Jesuit mission to, 104 
Malta, commerce of the Jesuits in, 

337 

Manifesto against the Confessors, 
335 



INDEX. 



507 



Manifesto against the Jesuits in 

Portugal, 342 
Marca, Archbishjp of Toulouse, 

persecutes the Jesuits, 269 
Mariana, John, on the " Political 

Creed" of the Jesuits, 192 
Martyrs of the Society, 262, 408 
Mary of England receives the Je- 
suits, 152 

of Scotland, 162 

Mass, benefits procured by, 46 
Massacre of the Huguenots, 271 

on St, Bartholomew's 

Eve, 159 ; consequences of the, 
179 

Maynooth, college of, 461 
Mazzarini, 267 

Memorial of the Jesuits in England 

to the Pope, 163, 285 
Mercurianus elected General, 149; 

character and death of, 150; 

submission of the Jesuits to, 

209 

Metternich refuses to admit the 

Jesuits to Austria, 452 
Missionaries, Jesuit, first sent to 

England, 64—66 
Missions of the Jesuits in America, 

301—313 

in China, 105, 297 

in England, 151, 171 

— in Europe generally, 62 

in France, 179 

in Germany, 75 

to the Holy Land, 24, 25 

in India, 96—129, 297 

in Ireland, 152 

in Portugal, 171—175 

in Scotland, 152, 169 

■ political, of the Jesuits to 

England, 63 
Modena, Jesuits in, 469 
Mohilow, Bishop of, 431 
Molina, on the doctrine of Free 

Will, 231 
Molinism, 231 

Monastery of Port Royal, destruc- 
tion of, 274 



Monasteries, 369 n. 

Monks, Benedictine, 466 

Month of Mary, or period conse- 
crated to the worship of the Vir- 
gin, 249 

Morality of the Jesuits, 238 

Morals, Jesuit Code of, 230—252 



N. 

Nantes, edict of, passed, 270; 

revoked, 271 
Naples, political reform encouraged 

in, 331; Jesuits expelled from, 

358; re-established in, 485; 

government of. 486 
Napoleon, fall of, 436; causes of 

the, 447, 448; Jesuits encouraged 

by, 455 

Louis, his connection with 

the Jesuits, 438, 454, 491; sup- 
ports the Pope in the late revo- 
lution, 475 
Nevil, the conspirator, 165 
Nickel, General, 319; is deposed, 
320 

Nobili, Father, 108 

Norwich, Jesuits established in, 

459 
Novices, 46 
Novitiates, 408, 451 
Noyelli, General, 324 
Nuns, 233; persecution of, 269, 

270 



O. 

Oates, character and plot of, 292, 
293 

Officers of the Order, 38, 54—56 

Oldcorne, Father, 289 n. 

Oliva, General, 320; character of, 



508 



IXUEX. 



321; corresponds with the sove- 
reigns of Europe, 322 
Olivarez, attacks the Jesuits, 389 
Order of Cordeliers, 369 
— — of Franciscans, 369, 371 

of Jesuits, origin of the, 9; 

founders of the, 29; generals of 
the, see " Generals companions 
of the, 23; assemblies of the, 53; 
progress of the, 57, 62; causes 
which led to its ultimate destruc- 
tion, 228, 325—327; new phase 
of the history of, 253; reform of, 
demanded, 346; abolition of, 
348, 350, 355, 362; suppression 
of, 360, 382, 383; policy of the, 
433; re -establishment of, in 
Home, 439; present designs of, 
466 

of Theatines, 25 

Orders suppressed by the Popes, 
389 

religious, instituted by the 

Jesuits, 455 
Oudinot, General, 475, 479 



P. 

Padua, Jesuit college founded at, 
62 

Palafox, Bishop, history of, 309 
Palestine, pilgrimage of Loyola to, 
21,26 

Pampeluna, Loyola wounded at the 

siege of, 11 
Papists, 293; efforts of the, to re- 

store Romanism into England, 

464 

Paraguay, Jesuits established at, 
301 

Paris, operations of the League in, 

181; siege of, 184 
Parma, Jesuits expelled from, 358 
Duke of, excommunicated, 

359 

Parry, William, his project to 



assassinate Queen Elizabeth, 164; 
trial and execution of, 165 

Parson, heads the Jesuit mission to 
England, 154, 155; is persecuted 
by the English, 160; escapes to 
France, 164; attempt to dispose 
of the crown, 284 

Pascal, on " Invincible Ignorance,' 9 
240; exposes the Jesuit consti- 
tution, 345 

Pasquier, on "the Jesuits in Por- 
tugal,' 5 172, 173 

Passports, spiritual, granted by the 
Jesuits, 323, 324 

Paul III, 28 ; issues a bull in favour 
of the Jesuits, 62; sends Jesuits 
to Ireland, 64 

IV, Caraffa, 24, 25; opposes 

the Jesuits, 94; at war with 
Spain, 133; death of, 139 

V, 232 

Pellico, Francis, on the " Secret 

Class," 46 
Percy, reveals the Gunpowder Plot, 

285 

Persecutions of the Protestants in 
France, 159, 179,269—271; in 
Germany, 201, 278, 279; in the 
Papal States, 477; in Poland, 
202, 280; in WUna, 280 

Philip II, 136; opposes the Jesuits, 
1 40 ; is crowned King of Portugal, 
174; joins the League, 182; 
character of, 267 

Ill, Jesuit influence under, 

275 

IV, 274 

of Orleans, made Regent of 

France, 330 
Philosophers, 6 

Piccolomini, 278; elected General, 
319 

Piedmont, exclusion of the Jesuits 

from, 487, 488 
Pierre CarrafFa, see Paul IV 
Pilgrimages of Loyola, 21, 24, 26 
Pius V, character of, 146; subjects 

the Jesuits to monastic duties, 



INDEX. 



509 



148; issues a bull against Queen 
Elizabeth, 153 
Pius VI, 426 

VII, 438; the Order of Jesuits 

re-established by, 439; is wor- 
shipped by the people, 447 

IX, auspicious commencement 

of his reign, 471; his struggles 
with the Jesuits, 472 — 474; flies 
to Gaeta, 474; restoration of, 
481 

Poland, works of the Jesuits in, 
194, 202; their supremacy in, 
253; persecution of the Protest- 
ants in, 380, 381; expulsion of 
the Jesuits from, 435 

Policy of the Society, great change 
in the, 224 

Pombal, Marquis of, 332; heroic 
conduct of, in the great earth- 
quake, 334; increasing power of, 
335; opposes the Jesuits, 339; 
issues a decree for their expulsion 
from Portugal, 343; attempts to 
reform the Order, 347 

Pompadour, Madame de, 343; op- 
poses the Jesuits, 346; her suc- 
cessor, 386 

Pontecorvo, seized by the French, 
359 

Popery, means by which it has been 

preserved in England, 285 
» decline of, in France, 490 

decline of, in Italy, 490 

Pope Adrian VI, 30 

Benedict, 128, 328, 338 

Clement VIII, 231, 232 

XIII, 338, 339 

XIV, 371, 372, 381 

—385, 412—420 

Gregory XIII, 149, 153, 159 

Innocent X, 233 

Pius V, 146, 148, 153 

VI, 426 

VII, 438, 439, 447 

IX, 471—474, 481 

Sixtus V, 182 

Urban, 233 



Popes of Rome, 6 ; infallibility of, 
233; secular power of, 361; 
election of, 369 

Port Royal, sisterhood of, 233, 
269, 270; monastery of, 274 

Portugal, Jesuits in, 82, 171, 332— 
335; their supremacy in, 253; 
conspiracies in, 275, 276; poli- 
tical reform encouraged in, 331; 
possessions of, in America, ex- 
changed with Spain, 333; Jesuits 
expelled from, 342 ; re-established 
in, 451 

Possevin, persecutes the Waldenses, 
207 

Postulants, rules for the admission 

of, 31—33, 37 
Poverty of the Jesuits, 38 
Prague, Jesuit assembly in, 217 
Preston, Jesuits established in, 459 
Priests of the Order, 40; their 

influence over the people, 217 
Printing, introduction of, 9 
Probabilism, Jesuit doctrine of, 237, 

241; effects of, 244, 245 
Procession to the Church of Gesii, 

59 

Processions, Catholic, 131, 132 

Proclamations, 157, 160 

— issued in England 

against the Jesuits, 161 

abolishing the Order 

in Spain, 351 

Professed, Jesuit class of the, 50; 
admission of, to the Order, ibid; 
vows taken by the, 51; increased 
numbers of the, 316 

Professio Fidei, restored in Ger- 
many, 199 

Proselytism, Jesuit, 463, 464, 466 

Protestantism, early characteristics 
of, 58; powerfully opposed by 
the Jesuits, 195; reaction against 
in Germany, 199; extirpated from 
the Imperial cities, 201; sub- 
verted in Poland, 203, 280—282; 
attacked in Sweden, 203; re- 
established, 204; attacked in 



510 



INDEX. 



England by the Puseyites, 264 — 
266; results of these contests on, 
235 

Protestants, projected massacre of, 
by the Papists, 156; persecution 
of, by Pope Gregory, 159; en- 
couraged in France, 179; per- 
secution of, by the Jesuits, 201, 
202, 269—271, 278, 279, 280; 
extirpation of, enjoined on Catholic 
priests, 466 ; duty of, in the pre- 
sent religious crisis, 467 

educated in Jesuit col- 
leges, 198 

massacre of the, 159 

in France, 179, 269— 

271 

in Germany, 201, 278, 

279 

in Poland, 202, 280— 

282 

Provincials, election of, 55 
Prussia, Jesuits admitted to, 423, 

429; late king of, 452 
Purgatory, doctrine of, 40 — 42; 

propounded by Father Maldonat, 

179 n. 

Pusey, Dr., a supposed member of 
the Fifth Secret Class, 464 

Puseyites, progressive work of the, 
464; similarity of, to Jesuitism, 
ibid 

Pythoness, the, of Velantano, 413 



Q. 

Quinet, on the " Paraguay Mis 
sions," 306 



R. 

Raggonico, character of, 338 
Ranke, on the et State of Religion 
in America/' 298 ; on the ie Com- 



merce of the Jesuits," 336; on 
the " Expulsion of the Jesuits 
from Spain," 352 

Ratio Studiorum, or Code of School 
Legislature, 213; importance of 
the, 224; condemned by the In- 
quisition, 231 

Ravaillac, the assassin of Henry TV, 
254; Jesuits accused as his ac- 
complices, ibid 

Rectors, appointment of, 38, 49, 55 

Reductions, or Village Missions, 
302; life in the, 303, 304; 
government of the, 305, 306; 
insurrections in the, 333 

Re- establishment of the Jesuits in 
France, 436 

■ of the Jesuits in 

Rome, 439 — 447; consequences 
of the, 447 

Reform, political, encouraged by the 
sovereigns of Europe, 33 

Reformation, dawn of the, 6 ; pro- 
gress of, in Europe, 8,30; opposed 
by the Jesuits, 90, 95, 235; re- 
sults of, in Germany, 199 

Regalisti of the Court of Rome, 363 

Regeneration, doctrine of, 18 

Relics, restoration of, in Germany, 
199, 200 

Religion of the Jesuits, 194; taught 
in schools, 216; superstitions of 
the, 308 

Republic, veneration of the Romans 

for the, 366 
Venetian., Jesuits expelled 

from the, 227 
Reservation, mental, encouraged in 

confession, 244 
Restrictions imposed on the Jesuits 

in France, 177 
Revolution of 1688, in England, 

294; causes of the, ibid 
of 1830, prepared by 

the Jesuits, 454; causes of the, 

457 

French, conduct of the 

Jesuits in the, 436, 455 



INDEX. 



511 



Revolution in Rome, 170/171; 
causes of the, 475 ; results of the, 
476, 477 

Rheims, Jesuit college at, 168 

Ricci, General, 348; efforts of, to 
save the Society, 357; denies the 
wealth of the Jesuits, 410; i^ 
sent prisoner to the Castle of St. 
Angelo, 411; death of, 430 

Richelieu, Cardinal, 233; Jesuit 
influence under, 266, 267 

Riots in England, 169 

Rochelle, siege of, 270 

Rodolph II, persecutes the Protest- 
ants in Germany, 201 

Rodriguez, conversion of, to Jesuit- 
ism, 23; mission of, to Portugal, 
59; recall of, 82 

Romanism, restored in Germany, 
201 

in Poland, 202 

in Sweden, 203 

Romans, opposition of, to the 
Jesuits, 472 ; gallant defence of 
their country by, 476 
Rome, charitable institutions of, 59; 
opposition to the Jesuits in, 89; 
Jesuit influence in, 384; return 
of the Jesuits to, 447; the ruin 
of England desired by, 465 ; 
Jesuits expelled from, 473 ; civil 
wars in, 475 ; entered by the 
French, 478, 479 
Rosaries, use of, vindicated, 249 
Rossi, mission of, to Rome, 457, 458 
Rules for the admission of Postu- 
lants, 31, 32, 37 
for the expulsion of mem- 
bers, 42 

of the Inquisition, 61 

of the Jesuit schools, 213, 

215 

to be observed in making 

saints, 257, 262 
Russia, Jesuits protected in, 423, 

430 ; progress of the Society in, 

432 ; Jesuits expelled from, by 

Alexander, 433—435 



S, 

Saints, Catholic, requisitions for, 
14 

Jesuit, 35, 257 ; canoni- 
zation of, 258—262, 301 n. ; 
number of, at the suppression of 
the Order, 408 

Saldanha, Cardinal, censures the 
Jesuits, 338 

Salmeron, mission of, to Ireland, 64 

Saragossa, opposition to the Jesuits 
in, 81 

Sardinia, Jesuit King of, 448 

Scholastics, or, Scholars, 44 ; Clas- 
sification of, 49 ; vows of the, 
ibid ; mode of training, 214, 215 ; 
studies of the, 221 

School of St. Cyran, 233 

Schoolmasters, Jesuit, 216 

Schools of the Order, 39; profes- 
sors of the, 196; code of legis- 
lation for, 213; masters of the, 
217; influence of the, 455 

for the poor, 197 ; servants 

educated in, 455 

Sicily, Jesuits in, 433 

Scotland, missions of the Jesuits to, 
152 ; their influence in, 169 

Secreta Monita, the, 250; reason 
why they are believed to be apo- 
cryphal, 251 

Secret Class of the Jesuits, 45, 462; 
supposed members of, in England, 
464 

She r win, trial and execution of, 
163 

Siege of Paris, 184 

Siestrencewiecz, 431 

Sigismond, King of Sweden, sup- 
ports the Jesuits, 195 ; is nomi- 
nated their King, 202; succeeds 
John III, 205 

Silesia, Jesuits in, 424, 425 

Simoncelli, 484 

Simony, sin of, 373, 374 

Sin, Jesuit notions of, 238 

Sinigallia, execution at, 481, 484 



512 



IKDEX. 



Sixtus V, 184 ; supports the 
League, 188 ; takes part with 
Acquaviva, 211 

Sisters of Port Royal, 233 ; per- 
secution of, 274 

of the Sacred Heart, 455 

Society of Jesus, 24; founders of 
the, 29 ; constitution of the, 44, 
316, 318; great change in the 
policy of the, 224 ; overgrowing 
influence of, 253 ; authenticity of 
the, 263 ; attachment of members 
to the, 321 ; destruction of, 325; 
reformation of, 346 ; suppression 
of, 374 ; progress of the, 407 ; 
origin of, 408 ; re-establishment 
of, 439 ; character of, 494 

■ established in 

Spain, 209 ; abolished from 
Spain, 350 

abolished in France, 

348 

Sovereignty, supported by the 
Jesuits, 195; Jesuit doctrine of, 
493 

Spain, success of the Jesuits in, 62; 
oppositions raised against them 
in, 78; works of the Inquisition 
in, 148; General Acquiviva's in- 
fluence in, 228, 274; political 
reform encouraged in, 331 ; Ame- 
rican possessions of, exchanged 
with Portugal, 333; Jesuits ex- 
pelled from, 350; restored to, 
450 

Speculations, commercial, of the 

Jesuits, 336 
Spies of the Jesuits, 35; payment 

of, 45 

Spiritual Exercises, origin of the 
book of, 15; quotations from the, 
16 — 20; opinions of Cardinal 
Wiseman on the, ibid; the work 
submitted to the Inquisition, 89 
Squillace, Minister of Spain, 331 
St. Bartholomew's Eve, 159 
St. Cyran, Abbot of, 232; school 
of, 233 



St. Petersburgh, Jesuits expelled 
from, 434 

St. Thomas, theology of, 230 

States of the Church, seized from 
the Jesuits, 359; miserable con- 
dition of the, 479 

Roman, political trials in 

* the, 482 

Venetian, expulsion of the 

Jesuits from the, 227; their 
return to the, 228 

S ton ey hurst, settlement of the Jesuits 
at, 459, 460 

Styria, Jesuits in, 452 

Sully, on the recall of the Jesuits to 
France, 225, 226 

Superiors, appointment of, 49; 
duties of, 55; immorality of, 319 

Superstitions of the Jesuits, 197 

Suppression of the Jesuits, 380 — 
383 ; powers united in the accom- 
plishment of the, 386; brief for 
the, 387, 406; conduct of the 
Jesuits during the period of, 422 

Sweden, teachings of the Jesuits in, 
1 94 ; becomes a Romish province, 
203; restoration of, to the Pro- 
testants, 204 

Switzerland, dawn of the Reform- 
ation in, 8 ; invaded by the 
Jesuits, 450, 458; Jesuits esta- 
blished in, 306 



T. 

Tambourini, elected General, 325 
Tanucci, Minister of Spain, 331 
Tavora, Marquis of, accused of 
assassinating the king, 340; per- 
secution of the family of, ibid 

Marchioness of, executed, 

341 

Theatines, origin and doctrines of 

the Order, 25 
Theologians, Jesuit, 235 



INDEX. 



513 



Theology of the Jesuits, 230 
Thiers, Jesuits opposed by, 457 
Thirty Years' War, 278; advan- 
tages derived by the Jesuits from 
the, 279 
Thomists, doctrines of the, 232 
Tilly, 278 

Toledo, opposition to the Jesuits in, 
80 

Torrigiani, Cardinal, 339 

Touron, Cardinal, Pope's Legate to 
India, 114; decree of, forbidding 
Malabar rites, 115 — 117; mission 
of, to China, 123; banishment 
of, 125; imprisonment and death 
of, 127 

Transgression, doctrine of, 238 
Trials, political, in the Roman 

States, 482—484 
Tuscany, Jesuits in, 486 ; persecu- 
tion of Christians in, 487 



U. 

Universities, Jesuit, 196 
University of Cracow, letter of, 

addressed to the University of 

Louvain, 281 

of Louvain, 281 

Urban VIII, Pope, 233 



V. 

VAsauEZ, Gabriel, on the "Political 
Creed " of the Jesuits, 192 

Venice, Jesuit power in, 227 

Verger de Hauranne, Abbot of St. 
Cyran, 232 

Verona, persecution of Protestants 
at, 477 

Vicar-General, appointment of, 320 
■ of Russia, 431 



Vienna, Jesuit schools of, 197 
Virgin Mary, the worship of, taught 

by the Jesuits, 247—250 
Vitelleschi elected General of the 
Order, 256; character of, 316; 
influence of the General's decline 
during his Generalate. 317 
Voltaire, character of, 347 
Vows of the Coadjutors, 56 
Jesuits, 24, 26; for- 
mula of the, 47 

Novices, 46 

Professed, 51, 52 

Scholars, 46 

Voyages of Lainez, 143 



W. 

Waldenses, characteristics of the, 
206; persecution of, by the 
Jesuits, 207, 453 

Wall, Minister of Spain, 431 

Walsingham aids Parry's conspi- 
racy against Queen Elizabeth, 166 

War between Sweden and Poland, 
205 

declared against Rome, 422 

Wars of the Jesuits, 278, 279, 422 
Wars, Civil, in France, 179 ; origin 
of the, ibid ; projected by the 
Pope, 182; termination of the 
183 

— in Rome, 475 — 480 

in Switzerland, 206, 

458; instigated by the Jesuits, 

ibid 

Wealth of the Jesuits, 39, 408; 
means by which it is acquired, 
40, 42, 150, 279; effects of the, 
82 ; estimate of 409, 491 ; sources 
of, ibid 

Weeks of spiritual exercises, 16 — 
18 

Weld, Mr., estates in England pre- 



514 



INDEX. 



sented to the Jesuits by, 459 ; 
son of, enters the Order, 460 

West Indies, commerce of the Je- 
suits in the, 336 

White Russia, Jesuits in, 430, 433 

Wilna, persecution of the Protes- 
tants in, 280 

William, King of Nassau, treach- 
ery of the Jesuits to, 453 

Wiseman, Cardinal, on the "Spi- 
ritual Exercises/ ' 16; mission 
of, to England, 64 

Worship of images encouraged, 249 

of the Virgin Mary incul- 
cated by the Jesuits, 247 

Writers, Jesuit, 222 

Writings of the Jesuits, 224, 247 



X. 

Xavier, Francis, a Companion of 
the Order, 23 ; mission of, to 
Portugal, 59; character of, 98; 



mission of, to India, 99, 100; 
his conduct at Goa, 101 ; his mis- 
sion to the coast of Malabar, 
103 ; to China, 105 ; exertions of, 
to convert idolators, 102 ; illness 
and death of, 106 ; canonization 
of, 257, 262 
Ximenes, Cardinal, college erected 
by, at Alcala, 22 



Y. 

Year, secular, solemnization of the, 

263 

Yorkshire, estates in, presented to 
the Jesuits, 459, 460 



Z. 

Zelanti, of the Court of Rome, 
363 



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